Climate change: Acid oceans transform marine life, says study

PARIS (AFP)

The amoeba-like organisms, about the size of a grain of sand, live in the surface waters of oceans around the world.

They are an important part of the ecological chain and also provide a bulwark against global warming.

They transform carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air into calcium-based shells. When they die, their carbon-rich shells sink to the ocean floor, effectively storing the atmospheric CO2 forever.