Can the Oceans Pass the Acid Test?

Acid Test: The Global Challenge of Ocean Acidification is a 20-minute video primer on carbon dioxide (CO2), its sources and its effects on our marine ecosystem.

Acid Test: The Global Challenge of Ocean Acidification is a 20-minute video primer on carbon dioxide (CO2), its sources and its effects on our marine ecosystem. Produced by the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Acid Test is narrated by actress Sigourney Weaver—who serves not only as the documentary’s voice but also its celebrity advocate, blogging about the film on the Huffington Post and joining NRDC President (and her friend since high school) Frances Beinecke for film screenings. Brilliant underwater footage is paired with information from climate scientist Ken Caldeira (Carnegie Institution), marine ecologist Steve Palumbi (Stanford) and NRDC senior scientist Lisa Suatoni, as well as a 35-year veteran of the commercial fishing industry, Bruce Steele.

Since industrialization, there has been a 30% increase in the ocean’s acidity, creating a corrosive environment for crustaceans and mollusks, including terrapods—planktonic snails with a calcium carbonate shell that serve as a vital food source for fish
which are in turn a basic food source for much of the human population. As the film states, "If the smallest things in the ocean are affected by acidification, the entire food web becomes vulnerable." Acid Test calls to establish more marine protected areas, employ sustainable fishing practices and warns we must emit less CO2 for our oceans to remain inhabitable.