Ocean acidity nears unsafe level: Planetary Health Check report
- Planetary Health Check's 2024 report shows ocean acidification nearing unsafe level
- The more acidic our ocean, the pH increases and balance is thrown off
- One author says breaching unsafe boundary 'inevitable'
FILE – Pelicans fly near the shore as waves from the Pacific Ocean roll in on May 14, 2024, on the Quinault reservation in Taholah, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
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(NewsNation) — The world’s oceans are nearing a concerning acidity level that would make it harder to sustain marine ecosystems and maintain the Earth’s carbon levels.
That’s according to a new report from Planetary Health Check, which found that ocean acidification has nearly crossed the safe boundary because of rapid CO2 level increases since industrialization.
“Several new studies suggest that even these current conditions may be problematic for multiple marine organisms, suggesting a need for re-evaluating the safe boundary,” the report adds.
What is ocean acidification?
Our planet’s oceans absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, in turn making their waters chemically shift. As acidity increases in ocean water, pH decreases — and it becomes harder for the ocean’s delicate ecosystems to stay balanced.
This development harms coral reefs, marine food chains and causes biodiversity losses. Marine losses would translate into food shortages worldwide, exacerbating climate-fueled crises.
It also hinders the ocean’s ability to act as a carbon sink — when something absorbs more carbon than it emits — which could negatively impact efforts to slow global warming.
Can we fix ocean acidity?
One of the report’s lead authors, Boris Sakschewski, told reporters it might be too late to appease the acidification.
“Even with rapid emission cuts, some level of continued acidification may be unavoidable due to the CO2 already emitted and the time it takes for the ocean system to respond,” Sakschewski said.
“Therefore, breaching the ocean acidification boundary appears inevitable within the coming years,” he added.
Other boundaries that Planetary Health Check monitors include two others in the safe zone: stratopheric ozone depletion and atmospheric aerosol loading. Six others are “breached”: climate change, novel entities, modification of biogeochemical flows, freshwater change, land system change and biosphere integrity.
