Ken Caldeira, co-author of the report, states if the rise of carbon dioxide from human activities continues to increase, marine life would suffer greatly, the implications of which cannot be fully anticipated.
Marine plants soak up CO2 and convert it to food during photosynthesis. It is used to make skeletons and shells, which eventually become sediment on the ocean floor. Scientists estimate more than a third of all human-produced CO2 has been absorbed by the oceans.
What are the effects? Caldeira says when CO2 gas dissolves into the ocean it produces carbonic acid, which corrodes marine organism's shells and can hinder their ability to take in oxygen.
If these trends continue, increasingly acidic water will hamper shell and coral formation and negatively impact phytoplankton and zooplankton that form the bottom of the food chain.
This, in turn, would cause a deadly ripple effect through the ocean's ecosystem.
Caldeira points out there is no way of predicting the precise effects an acidic ocean would have on ecology and Earth's climate.
Another study in December found up to 20 percent of the world's coral reefs have been destroyed by warmer waters and increased carbon dioxide. These reefs serve as homes for marine life and help protect shorelines from erosion.
