Oceans are at their most acidic point in 26,000 years
2022 CE • Worldwide
"The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report concluded that “[t]here is very high confidence that open ocean surface pH is now the lowest it has been for at least 26 kyr [thousand years] and current rates of pH change are unprecedented since at least that time.” As the pH of the ocean decreases, its capacity to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere also declines."
World Meteorological Organization, State of the Global Climate 2021 (Geneva, Switzerland: World Meteorological Organization, 2022), 11-12.
Image: NOAA photo library, fis01026, 2016, Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0).
Learn about Maya Lin’s fifth and final memorial: a multi-platform science based artwork that presents an ecological history of our world - past, present, and future.
Discover ecological histories and stories of former abundance, loss, and recovery on the map of memory.
Learn how we can reduce our emissions and protect and restore species and habitats – around the world.
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