text: Full article: Ocean acidification
  The pH of the oceans is declining due to uptake of atmospheric CO.  The rise in dissolved carbon dioxide reduces the availability of the carbonate ion, reducing CaCO saturation state, thus making it thermodynamically harder to make CaCO shell. Carbonate ions preferentially bind to hydrogen ions to form bicarbonate, thus a reduction in carbonate ion availability increases the amount of unbound hydrogen ions, and decreases the amount of bicarbonate formed (Equations 1–3).  pH is a measurement of hydrogen ion concentration, where a low pH means there are more unbound hydrogen ions. pH is therefore an indicator of carbonate speciation (the format of carbon present) in the oceans and can be used to assess how healthy the ocean is.
  The list of organisms that may struggle due to ocean acidification include coccolithophores and foraminifera (the base of the marine food chain in many areas), human food sources such as oysters and mussels, and perhaps the most conspicuous, a structure built by organisms – the coral reefs. Most surface water will remain supersaturated with respect to CaCO (both calcite and aragonite) for some time on current emissions trajectories, but the organisms that require carbonate will likely be replaced in many areas. Coral reefs are under pressure from overfishing, nitrate pollution, and warming waters; ocean acidification will add additional stress on these important structures.