As the amount of carbon entering the atmosphere increases, the reultant green-house gases are increasing temperatures, leading to many changes in the ecology of earth.
But even more worrying is that around half of that extra carbon is being absorbed into the oceans leading to significant acidfication of the water.
That threatens many creatures, from plankton to shellfish that need to fix calcium as part of their bodies, particularly shells.
Some species are in danger of having their shells dissolved by excessive amounts of acid now building up in sea water.
Once these creatures become vulnerable, there could be a sudden collapse of the ocean food web, not only threatening the food that humans take from the ocean, but many other 'services' to the world's ecology, both marine and terrestial, that originate in the functioning marine ecology, with profound implications for the future of humankind.
An article in the Telegraph addresses just some of these problems that are just around the corner now.
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