Often called climate change’s “evil twin,” ocean acidification has quietly passed a critical threshold, according to new research published in Global Change Biology.
Scientists from Plymouth Marine Laboratory, NOAA, and Oregon State University report that the planet crossed this dangerous boundary as early as 2020, with many parts of the ocean now in conditions once considered too harmful to support marine life.
This “evil twin” of global warming happens when carbon dioxide dissolves into seawater, lowering its pH and stripping it of carbonate ions. These are the essential building blocks for marine organisms like corals, oysters, and plankton. Without them, these species struggle to grow, survive, and maintain the ecosystems that so many other animals and humans depend on.
The original boundary for ocean acidification was defined as a 20 percent drop in the ocean’s ability to support calcifying life compared to pre-industrial levels.
However, the new findings reveal that we’ve not only crossed that threshold globally, but that deeper waters – especially at 200 meters – have been hit even harder, with 60 percent already beyond safe limits.
Regions most affected include polar waters and tropical zones, home to the planet’s coral reefs. And while the acidification already underway can’t be undone, there are other ways to help limit the reach of this oceanic crisis such as we wrote about here where .earth tribe member Vesta can utilize the ocean to “soak up” additional carbon.
Several .earth organizations have also been raising awareness of the acidification of the oceans including:
- Pronoe.Earth: This organization’s mission is to restore the ocean’s natural ability to capture and permanently store CO2from the air, in a sustainable, scalable and asset-light manner. Learn more here.
- Puro.Earth: In their blog, Puro wrote about unlocking the ocean’s potential for large scale carbon removal . Learn more here.
- Geenly.Earth: In this article, Greenly covers the issues with ocean acidification, its causes and its solutions. Learn more here.
- Tectonic.Earth: In this article, Tectonic explores how their Collective members are improving the ocean’s natural ability to capture and store carbon. Learn more here.
Is your organization helping to counter the impact of acidification? The .earth web domain is ideal for enhancing your brands and communicating your mission of creating a safer planet through platforms for social and environmental activism.
To help you accomplish this, the .earth web domain and its registrar partners are offering special pricing for one-year registrations of standard .earth domain names starting at under $10.00 USD – from April 22, 2025 to June 30, 2025
To learn more about the .earth domain, visit Voices.Earth. In addition, many organizations and individuals are sharing their voices about the benefits of a .earth domain in our Voices.Earth podcast series.
