EVEN the oceans aren’t safe from acid rain. Acidification of the upper layers of the planet’s oceans has become a concern as the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rises, increasing the amount that the oceans absorb. But the impact of nitric oxide and sulphuric acid from the burning of fossil fuels has been neglected, says Scott Doney of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who led a team that modelled the fate of these emissions.
Near-shore waters can be acidified as these pollutants rain down over the ocean. “A third to a half [of the acid rain] ends…
