Ocean acidification is the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth's oceans, caused by the uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. An estimated 30󈞔% of the carbon dioxide released by humans into the atmosphere dissolves into oceans, rivers and lakes.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) released a report this week at a conference in Korea, compiling studies on the impact of increased ocean acidification, caused by absorbing carbon dioxide, on the marine and coastal ecosystems. According to the report, Ocean acidification will cost the world economy more than $1 trillion annually by 2100. The report updated a 2009 report, since the amount of research into ocean acidification has grown, along with concerns about the effect it is having on marine organisms and the economies dependent on them.

?The oceans are facing major threats due to rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,? said CBD?s executive secretary Braulio Ferreira de Souzo Dias in the report?s introduction.

The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin shows that, far from falling, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere actually increased last year at the fastest rate for nearly 30 years. The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere reached 396.0 parts per million (ppm) in 2013. At the current rate of increase, it might cross 400 ppm within the next two years.

The solution to ocean acidification is basically reducing the carbon foot-prints. Carbon dioxide emission must be regulated. This is not only a solution to ocean acidification but also many other environmental problems like global warming, pollution, climate change etc.

Sources

www.wikipedia.org

http://ecowatch.com/2014/10/09/ocean-acidification-climate-change/

http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/Ocean+Acidification