For the first time, NOAA and partner scientists have connected the concentration of human-caused carbon dioxide in waters off the U.S. Pacific coast to the dissolving of shells of microscopic marine sea snails called pteropods.
![Scientists aboard NOAA Ship Fairweather sampled ocean waters and marine life to analyze how they may be affected by ocean acidification during the 2013 West Coast cruise. (Image credit: NOAA) Scientists aboard NOAA Ship Fairweather sampled ocean waters and marine life to analyze how they may be affected by ocean acidification during the 2013 West Coast cruise.](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_width_1275/public/legacy/image/2019/Jun/PHOTO%20-%20Mooring%20and%20Fairweather%20from%202013%20OA%20cruise%20-%20NOAA%20-111416%20-%204480x2138%20-%20landscape.jpg?itok=v5GBCgqB)
Scientists aboard NOAA Ship Fairweather sampled ocean waters and marine life to analyze how they may be affected by ocean acidification during the 2013 West Coast cruise. (Image credit: NOAA)