TIMES RECORD • September 3, 2020
One of the impacts climate change on marine life is related to acidification, the increasing acidity of the ocean water. It is the result of a number of factors including increases in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that gets absorbed into the water. The two critical components of shells are calcium and bicarbonate. Sea creatures combine them to make carbonate. The growth of a snail shell has to do with the golden ratio that starts with a small spiral and grows logarithmically, repeating itself over and over again. The increased carbon dioxide in seawater binds to carbonate ions, using them up so they are no longer available to shell-building animals that combine them with calcium to form calcium carbonate – the stuff they need for their shells. ~ Susan Olcott