Acidification. Marine organisms finding it more difficult to make CaCO3 shells. Not good.
Wikipedia ocean acidification:
Although the largest changes are expected in the future, a report from NOAA scientists found large quantities of water undersaturated in aragonite [a form of calcium carbonate] are already upwelling close to the Pacific continental shelf area of North America.Continental shelves play an important role in marine ecosystems since most marine organisms live or are spawned there, and though the study only dealt with the area from Vancouver to northern California, the authors suggest that other shelf areas may be experiencing similar effects. Similarly, one of the first detailed datasets examining temporal variations in pH at a temperate coastal location found that acidification was occurring at a rate much higher than that previously predicted, with consequences for near-shore benthic ecosystems.
