Introduction to Ocean Acidification

For millions of years, Earth's oceans have had a relatively stable acidity level. The way to measure acidity in water is by using a pH scale, which ranges from 0 to 14. 0 being very acidic, and 14 being basic. Most water we use has a fairly even pH level, leaning more on the basic side. For long periods of time, our oceans were found to have a pH of about 8.2. Research has been done that shows a drop in pH by 0.1, which means there has been a 25% increase in acidity over the past 200 years. This has affected the lives of many marine organisms.