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Ocean Acidification Report

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Ocean Acidification Report
Due to the burning of coal, oil, and other fossil fuels, carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere and dissolved into the ocean. Since the use of fossil fuels began during the industrial era, the ocean has absorbed about 525 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (Waters, 2016). As a result, the pH of the ocean water has dropped from 8.2 to 8.1 making it more acidic, also known as ocean acidification (Waters, 2016). This continuation of absorption sets future ocean acidity to drop about 150 percent more acidic than it currently is at about 7.7 (Policy et al.). The rapid decrease of the pH due to a rapid absorption of carbon dioxide has not allowed marine life to adapt to the changes appropriate in order to survive in

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