New research from the UK and Australia suggests that the rate of acidification of the world’s oceans is having a bigger effect on the population of plankton than previously anticipated.

 

According to a paper published by the team, human impact on the environment is driving acidification at an alarming rate, and could double current acidity levels by 2100, and it is unclear how the growth of micro-organisms, such as plankton, would respond.

 

"Human impact on the environment means carbon dioxide is dissolving in the ocean, which is naturally alkaline, and causing a decrease in seawater pH levels – an event termed ocean acidification,” said Professor Kevin Flynn of Swansea University in the UK.

 

"However, given the important role these organisms play in the Earth's biogeochemical cycles, the impact that ocean acidification-induced changes in the chemical composition of seawater will have on plankton is a major concern.”

 

Using simulations, the team has presented and discussed mechanisms by which many marine plankton will experience a substantially more acidic environment than currently suggested by ocean acidification scenarios – experiencing pH conditions which are completely outside their recent historical range.

 

Their results suggest that changes in the pH at the cell surface of plankton could adversely affect cellular equilibrium, leading to poor growth if not death.