anthropogenic carbon emissions

Ocean water dissolving the shells of marine life? Sounds like the plot of a science fiction movie, but for many shelled marine organisms it's a reality due to anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide. With the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide at its highest point in the last 650,000 years, the oceans are becoming more acidic as the water turns carbon dioxide into carbonic acid.

Continued carbon emissions are increasing the acidity of the oceans; in fact, approximately a third of anthropogenic carbon emissions are absorbed by the oceans each year. Scientists worry that not enough research has been done on the possible effects that ocean acidification will have on marine wildlife, ecosystems and food webs.