Oregon Public Broadcasting

Marine scientists from Oregon and Washington have documented rising acidity levels in offshore ocean waters.

It poses a threat to shellfish and other sea life. The findings were also the basis for an environmental group's lawsuit to compel a government response.

Tom Banse reports the novel lawsuit has just been settled out of court.

Miyoko Sakashita calls ocean acidification “the evil twin” of global warming. Sakashita is a lawyer and oceans director for the Center for Biological Diversity. Last year, that group sued the Environmental Protection Agency.

Miyoko Sakashita: “The lawsuit was challenging the fact that we felt that EPA and Washington needed to designate those ocean waters as impaired and take steps to address ocean acidification.”

Steps could include limits on carbon dioxide emissions. The ocean becomes more acidic when it absorbs CO-2 from the atmosphere.

But instead this case was settled well before trial. In the settlement, the EPA agrees to solicit public comment on how to address ocean acidification. The plaintiffs hope regulations will follow, but there's no guarantee of that in the settlement.

Oregon Field Guide - Ocean Acidification

The ocean is turning more acidic as CO2 emissions rise, and shellfish are struggling to survive in the more acidic sea.