Acidic seas fuel extinction fears
Increasing levels of acidity in oceans could trigger a mass extinction of sea life, a leading scientist warns. 
By Roger Harrabin, Environment analyst, BBC News Carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are acidifying the oceans and threaten a mass extinction of sea life, a top ocean scientist warns. Dr Carol Turley from Plymouth Marine Laboratory says it is impossible to know how marine life will cope, but she fears many species will not survive. … "I am very worried for ocean ecosystems which are currently productive and diverse," Carol Turely told BBC News. "I believe we may be heading for a mass extinction, as the rate of change in the oceans hasn’t been seen since the dinosaurs. "It may have a major impact on food security. It really is imperative that we cut emissions of CO2." Dr Turley is chairing a session on ocean acidification at the Copenhagen Climate Change Congress. … Professor Andy Watson, an ocean biologist from the University of East Anglia, believes climate change and overfishing may ruin the seas before acidification does. … "We are very worried," says Dr Jason Hall-Spencer from Plymouth University, who researches the site with help from the Naples-based Benthic Ecology Laboratory at Stazione Zoologica. "The changes here have clearly made life impossible for shell-forming creatures.” …
