We have received a clear signal from the ocean that the system that sustains us is under strain.
The ocean’s warning signal just grew louder. According to new research led by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the Stockholm Resilience Centre, ocean acidification has now crossed its planetary boundary, making it the seventh of nine Earth-system thresholds that humanity has pushed beyond the safe operating zone.
Since the industrial era, surface ocean pH has dropped by approximately 0.1 units, a 30–40% increase in acidity, and as much as 60% of subsurface waters now fall outside stability limits. This chemical shift undermines marine life, disrupts global food webs, and weakens the ocean’s ability to act as a carbon sink, accelerating planetary warming.
Nowhere is this felt more acutely than in the Arctic, where cold waters absorb CO₂ most rapidly. The Central Arctic Ocean (CAO), one of the planet’s last relatively untouched ecosystems, is acidifying faster than any other ocean region. Tiny shell-forming organisms, like pteropods, are already showing signs of shell dissolution. As this region has a fairly simple food chain, this process could destabilize the entire food chain threatening fish to whales.
For Global Choices, this breach reinforces an urgent truth: the Arctic is not a frontier for exploitation, it is a planetary regulator. Our call for a 10-year moratorium on exploitative activity in the Central Arctic Ocean is not just a conservation measure; it is a science-aligned response to safeguard the ocean’s stabilizing functions at a time when Earth’s resilience is faltering.
Protecting the Central Arctic Ocean Ice Shield means protecting the systems that sustain all life on Earth.
Safeguard the Arctic. Safeguard the planet’s resilience. Sign the petition
References:
Planetary health check 2025
Assessment of Arctic Ocean Acidification studies seawater pH
Summary Brief for 10-Year Moratorium on Exploitation in the Central Arctic Ocean Ice Shield
