June 20, 2025 — New research by an international team of oceanographers has found that ocean acidification has significantly compromised 40% of the global surface ocean, and 60% of the subsurface ocean to a depth of 656 feet (200 meters).
This extent of acidification indicates there has been considerable declines in suitable habitats for important marine species that rely on dissolved calcium and carbonate ions to build their hard shells and skeletons. Impacted economically and ecologically important species include crabs, oysters, mussels and other bivalves, corals and small sea snails known as pteropods that form the base of food webs.
The finding by an international team that included scientists from Plymouth Marine Laboratory in Great Britain, NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, the Cooperative Institute for Marine Ecosystem Research at Oregon State University, and the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center at the University of Maryland, was based on a detailed analysis of ocean carbon system observations, models and biological assessments. The research was published in the journal Global Change Biology as “Ocean Acidification: another planetary boundary crossed”.
Read the full article at the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program