Con

The acidity levels of the oceans are within past natural levels and the current rise in acidity is a natural fluctuation.

[120] The pH of average ocean surface water is 8.1 and has only decreased 0.1 since the beginning of the industrial revolution (neutral is pH 7, acid is below pH 7). [121] Science published a study of ocean acidity levels over the past 15 million years, finding that the “samples record surface seawater pH values that are within the range observed in the oceans today.” [82]

Increased atmospheric CO2 absorbed by the oceans results in higher rates of photosynthesis and faster growth of ocean plants and phytoplankton, which increases pH levels keeping the water alkaline, not acidic. [60] According to the Science and Public Policy Institute, “our harmless emissions of trifling quantities of carbon dioxide cannot possibly acidify the oceans.” [63]

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