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Projections of our future under climate change paint a picture of extreme weather and acidified oceans, a world many of today’s animals — including humans — may struggle, or fail, to survive.

The sea also absorbs carbon dioxide, acidifying the water, which breaks down essential minerals that organisms need to grow their shells and skeletons.

Sulfides also acidify the water, which can accelerate weathering.

In the face of warming, acidifying oceans, coral skeletons are at risk of dissolving.

For example, the U.S. regulated industrial sulfur and nitrogen dioxide emissions in 1990, but only after we had determined that they caused acid rain and acidified many water bodies in the Northeast.