Shell-shocked: Ocean acidification likely hampers tiny shell builders in Southern Ocean

A ubiquitous type of phytoplankton -- tiny organisms that are the base of the marine food web -- appears to be suffering from the effects of ocean acidification caused by climate change. According to authors of a new study, the single-celled organism under study is a type of "calcifying" plankton called a coccolithophore, which makes energy from sunlight and builds microscopic calcium carbonate shells, or plates, to produce a chalky suit of armor.

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