Ocean acidification

In late 2013, a group of scientists from NIWA travelled to Antarctica to perform a series of experiments under the sea ice to look at how climate change and ocean acidification could affect this fragile ecosytem.

Acidification of the world’s oceans from rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels reduces the availability of carbonate required by some marine organisms to build shells and skeletons, and potentially affects their ability to maintain existing structures.

Our oceans are expected to become more acidic as carbon dioxide concentrations rise. This will likely have impacts on the plankton, which play a major role in ocean ecosystems and processes.