Query: 'Our harmless emissions of trifling quantities of carbon dioxide cannot possibly acidify the oceans.

Relevant passages:
Marine pollution <=SEP=> Marine pollution occurs when harmful , or potentially harmful , effects result from the entry into the ocean of chemicals , particles , industrial , agricultural and residential waste , noise , or the spread of invasive organisms . Eighty percent of marine pollution comes from land . Air pollution is also a contributing factor by carrying off pesticides or dirt into the ocean . Land and air pollution have proven to be harmful to marine life and its habitats .   The pollution often comes from non point sources such as agricultural runoff , wind-blown debris and dust . Nutrient pollution , a form of water pollution , refers to contamination by excessive inputs of nutrients . It is a primary cause of eutrophication of surface waters , in which excess nutrients , usually nitrogen or phosphorus , stimulate algae growth .   Many potentially toxic chemicals adhere to tiny particles which are then taken up by plankton and benthos animals , most of which are either deposit or filter feeders . In this way , the toxins are concentrated upward within ocean food chains . Many particles combine chemically in a manner highly depletive of oxygen , causing estuaries to become anoxic .   When pesticides are incorporated into the marine ecosystem , they quickly become absorbed into marine food webs . Once in the food webs , these pesticides can cause mutations , as well as diseases , which can be harmful to humans as well as the entire food web .   Toxic metals can also be introduced into marine food webs . These can cause a change to tissue matter , biochemistry , behaviour , reproduction , and suppress growth in marine life . Also , many animal feeds have a high fish meal or fish hydrolysate content . In this way , marine toxins can be transferred to land animals , and appear later in meat and dairy products .

Carbon dioxide <=SEP=> Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a colorless gas with a density about 60 % higher than that of air ( 1.225 g/L ) that is odorless at normally encountered concentrations . Carbon dioxide consists of a carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms . It occurs naturally in Earth 's atmosphere as a trace gas at a concentration of about 0.04 percent ( 400 ppm ) by volume . Natural sources include volcanoes , hot springs and geysers , and it is freed from carbonate rocks by dissolution in water and acids . Because carbon dioxide is soluble in water , it occurs naturally in groundwater , rivers and lakes , ice caps , glaciers and seawater . It is present in deposits of petroleum and natural gas .   As the source of available carbon in the carbon cycle , atmospheric carbon dioxide is the primary carbon source for life on Earth and its concentration in Earth 's pre-industrial atmosphere since late in the Precambrian has been regulated by photosynthetic organisms and geological phenomena . Plants , algae and cyanobacteria use light energy to photosynthesize carbohydrate from carbon dioxide and water , with oxygen produced as a waste product .   Carbon dioxide is produced by all aerobic organisms when they metabolize carbohydrates and lipids to produce energy by respiration . It is returned to water via the gills of fish and to the air via the lungs of air-breathing land animals , including humans . Carbon dioxide is produced during the processes of decay of organic materials and the fermentation of sugars in bread , beer and winemaking . It is produced by combustion of wood and other organic materials and fossil fuels such as coal , peat , petroleum and natural gas .   It is a versatile industrial material , used , for example , as an inert gas in welding and fire extinguishers , as a pressurizing gas in air guns and oil recovery , as a chemical feedstock and in liquid form as a solvent in decaffeination of coffee and supercritical drying . It is added to drinking water and carbonated beverages including beer and sparkling wine to add effervescence . The frozen solid form of , known as `` dry ice '' is used as a refrigerant and as an abrasive in dry-ice blasting .   Carbon dioxide is the most significant long-lived greenhouse gas in Earth 's atmosphere . Since the Industrial Revolution anthropogenic emissions - primarily from use of fossil fuels and deforestation - have rapidly increased its concentration in the atmosphere , leading to global warming . Carbon dioxide also causes ocean acidification because it dissolves in water to form carbonic acid .