MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Scientists warn about impact on marine life of growing oceans’ acidity

Ocean acidification can dissolve the carbonate shells of marine organisms

With the growing level of pollution, the world's oceans are becoming acidic faster that could destroy the marine life and food supplies, a new study has claimed.

Researchers from the University of Bristol, who looked at how levels of acid in the ocean have changed over years, found that the current acidification is more severe than any time in the last 65 million years ago.

According to the report as ocean acidification accelerated it caused mass extinctions at the bottom of the food chain that could threaten whole ecosystems in the future.

The study, published in Nature Geoscience, looked at sediments from around 55 million years ago, when temperature rose by up to 6 degrees Celsius and acidification was occurring at a similar rate as today.

According to lead author Andy Ridgwell, ocean acidification can dissolve the carbonate shells of marine organisms and cause muscle wastage and dwarfism in other species. It could mean problems for humans in the future.

”Unlike surface plankton dwelling in a variable habitat, organisms living deep down on the ocean floor are adapted to much more stable conditions. A rapid and severe geochemical change in the environment would make their survival precarious”.