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Oceans are an important reservoir for CO2, absorbing a significant quantity of it (one-third) produced by anthropogenic activities and effectively buffering climate change. Ocean acidification is the change in ocean chemistry - lowering of ocean pH (i.e. increase in concentration of hydrogen ions) driven by the uptake of carbon compounds by the ocean from the atmosphere.
As the uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide by the ocean increases, the concentration of hydrogen ions in the ocean increases, the concentration of carbonate ions decreases, the pH of the oceans decreases and the oceans become less alkaline - this process is know as ocean acidification.