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Letter

Nature Geoscience 1, 114–117 (1 February 2008) | doi:10.1038/ngeo100

Decreased abundance of crustose coralline algae due to ocean acidification

Ilsa B. Kuffner , Andreas J. Andersson , Paul L. Jokiel , Ku|[lsquo]|ulei S. Rodgers & Fred T. Mackenzie

Owing to anthropogenic emissions, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide could almost double between 2006 and 2100 according to business-as-usual carbon dioxide emission scenarios. Because the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations will lead to increasing dissolved inorganic carbon and carbon dioxide in surface ocean waters, and hence acidification and lower carbonate saturation states.