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Carbon Dioxide Breaking Down Marine Ecosystems
from Science News
VANCOUVER -- If carbon dioxide emissions don't begin to decline soon, the complex fabric of
marine ecosystems will begin fraying--and eventually unravel completely, two new studies
conclude.
The diversity of ocean species thins and any survivors' health declines as the pH of ocean
water falls in response to rising carbon dioxide levels, scientists from England and Florida
reported February 18 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science. What's more, affected species aren't restricted to those with shells and calcified
support structures--features particularly vulnerable to erosion by corrosive seawater.
Jason Hall-Spencer of the University of Plymouth, England, and his colleagues have been
collecting data from marine sites off Italy, Baja California and Papua New Guinea, where high
concentrations of carbon dioxide percolate out of the seabed from volcanic activity below.
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