Carbon dioxide is contributing to a change in the chemical makeup of the world’s oceans, which is known as ocean acidification. This process may make it more difficult for shellfish and coral to survive in this new environment. But the oceans may not be the only bodies of water threatened by this dangerous change. 

From The Great Lakes Echo: 

The increased carbon dioxide changing the water chemistry and ecology of oceans may also be affecting freshwater and the organisms that live in it.

“Based on our preliminary modeling and understanding of carbon cycles, we think similar acidification trends will take place in the Great Lakes to the degree that researchers are expecting in the oceans,” said Galen McKinley, a professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at the University of Wisconsin.

Visit the Great Lakes Echo for the full article, which details potential impacts that these changes in water chemistry may have on the Great Lakes ecosystems.