Fernando Jorge on Unsplash

Just over 70% of the Earth's surface is covered by oceans. This water offers a wealth of microscopic life forms that are absolutely essential to the biology of the globe. Professor Katherine Richardson has fallen in love with this marine fauna. But she's worried.

The water masses in our time absorb very large amounts of the carbon dioxide or CO₂ we emit into the atmosphere. In doing so, water shields us from excessive climate change. Of course, it is fortunate, but it has a high cost. Carbon dioxide, dissolved in water, turns into carbonic acid. And so the chemical properties of the oceans are changing rapidly with our use of fossil fuels.

How will the acidification of the ocean's water affect the conditions for the myriad of living aquatic life? And when should we expect Earth's water to be saturated with carbonic acid so that the rise of CO₂ in the atmosphere will accelerate? This is revealed by Katherine Richardson in a riveting live recording from Science Salon #8 in Copenhagen on December 4, 2019 (in Danish).

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This podcast was produced with support from the Novo Nordisk Foundation.