Lawsuit Filed to Protect Sea Life From Acidifying Ocean
The oceans absorb 22 million tons of carbon dioxide every day, making their water more acidic and bringing far-reaching threats to marine life. So last week the Center sued the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to respond to our 2013 petition by setting new water-quality standards to combat acidification.
"The EPA is ignoring the threat of ocean acidification, but we need to act now to protect marine animals that are already being hurt as seawater turns corrosive and impairs their ability to produce shells," said Emily Jeffers, a Center attorney.
Acidification has already caused massive oyster die-offs in the Pacific Northwest and has eroded the shells of small plankton called pteropods, important to the food web, off the California coast. Corals worldwide are growing sluggishly, while species like clownfish are suffering brain damage.
Read more in our press release.