State officials are monitoring the PH levels of ocean along the California coast. Chris Scholin from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute says not only is climate change making the water warmer, it’s also making it more acidic.
He says as temperatures rise, carbon is released into the atmosphere then absorbed in the ocean by plants. When the plants die, they consume more oxygen in the water, changing PH levels. Scholin says it may be impossible to completely stop climate change, but he hopes learning more about how it affects the ecosystem could lead to better policies and protected areas.