---
attributes: ~
caption: 'Pteropods, or “sea butterflies,” are free-swimming sea snails about the size of a small pea. Pteropods are eaten by marine species ranging in size from tiny krill to whales and are an important source of food for North Pacific juvenile salmon. The photos above show what happens to a pteropod’s shell in seawater that is too acidic. The left panel shows a shell collected from a live pteropod from a region in the Southern Ocean where acidity is not too high. The shell on the right is from a pteropod collected in a region where the water is more acidic (Photo credits: (left) Bednaršek et al. 2012;<tbib>f5ea3c8e-a727-47a1-981c-4db49a0b6d33</tbib> (right) Nina Bednaršek).'
chapter:
  description: ~
  display_name: 'Chapter 2: Our Changing Climate'
  doi: 10.7930/J0KW5CXT
  identifier: our-changing-climate
  number: 2
  report_identifier: nca3
  sort_key: 20
  title: Our Changing Climate
  url: http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/our-changing-climate/introduction
chapter_identifier: our-changing-climate
cited_by: []
contributors:
  - display_name: 'Scientist : Nina Bednarsek (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory) '
    href: http://52.38.26.42:8080/contributor/2526.yaml
    id: 2526
    organization:
      country_code: US
      display_name: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
      identifier: pacific-marine-environmental-laboratory
      name: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
      organization_type_identifier: federal
      type: organization
      url: http://www.pmel.noaa.gov
    organization_uri: /organization/pacific-marine-environmental-laboratory
    person:
      display_name: Nina Bednarsek
      first_name: Nina
      id: 1458
      last_name: Bednarsek
      middle_name: ~
      orcid: ~
      type: person
      url: http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/file/Nina+Bednarsek
    person_id: 1458
    person_uri: /person/1458
    role_type_identifier: scientist
    uri: /contributor/2526
create_dt: 2013-07-12T10:10:22
description: 'Pteropods, or “sea butterflies,” are free-swimming sea snails about the size of a small pea. Pteropods are eaten by marine species ranging in size from tiny krill to whales and are an important source of food for North Pacific juvenile salmon. The photos above show what happens to a pteropod’s shell in seawater that is too acidic. The left panel shows a shell collected from a live pteropod from a region in the Southern Ocean where acidity is not too high. The shell on the right is from a pteropod collected in a region where the water is more acidic (Photo credits: (left) Bednaršek et al. 2012;<tbib>f5ea3c8e-a727-47a1-981c-4db49a0b6d33</tbib> (right) Nina Bednaršek).'
display_name: '2.31: Shells Dissolve in Acidified Ocean Water'
files:
  - display_name: CS_pteropod_series_V3.png
    file: 5a/e8/99a6d8cc9c7e286663299828a1fd/CS_pteropod_series_V3.png
    href: http://data.globalchange.gov/assets/5a/e8/99a6d8cc9c7e286663299828a1fd/CS_pteropod_series_V3.png
    identifier: 071a85bb-1633-47d6-818f-22b0a95beb18
    landing_page: ~
    location: ~
    mime_type: image/png
    sha1: 6918e3cd8fb5cb54561c6736532a9bd834f37f58
    size: 636561
    thumbnail: 5a/e8/99a6d8cc9c7e286663299828a1fd/.thumb-071a85bb-1633-47d6-818f-22b0a95beb18.png
    thumbnail_href: http://data.globalchange.gov/assets/5a/e8/99a6d8cc9c7e286663299828a1fd/.thumb-071a85bb-1633-47d6-818f-22b0a95beb18.png
    type: file
    uri: /file/071a85bb-1633-47d6-818f-22b0a95beb18
    url: http://data.globalchange.gov/assets/5a/e8/99a6d8cc9c7e286663299828a1fd/CS_pteropod_series_V3.png
href: http://52.38.26.42:8080/report/nca3/chapter/our-changing-climate/figure/shells-dissolve-in-acidified-ocean-water.yaml
identifier: shells-dissolve-in-acidified-ocean-water
images:
  - attributes: ~
    create_dt: 2013-07-12T10:10:22
    description: ~
    identifier: eb9bd7dc-3e3a-4001-9a64-f2a0763b3f64
    lat_max: ~
    lat_min: ~
    lon_max: ~
    lon_min: ~
    position: ~
    submission_dt: ~
    time_end: ~
    time_start: ~
    title: 'Ocean Acidification and the Food Web - Right'
    url: ~
    usage_limits: ~
  - attributes: ~
    create_dt: 2013-07-12T10:10:22
    description: ~
    identifier: 8c679de0-4a6c-4fc9-bbd1-59251ffe3d7f
    lat_max: ~
    lat_min: ~
    lon_max: ~
    lon_min: ~
    position: ~
    submission_dt: ~
    time_end: ~
    time_start: ~
    title: 'Ocean Acidification and the Food Web - Left'
    url: ~
    usage_limits: ~
kindred_figures:
  - /report/nca3/chapter/appendix-faqs/figure/ocean-acidification-and-the-food-web
  - /report/nca3/chapter/executive-summary/figure/overview-shells-dissolve-in-acidified-ocean-water
lat_max: ~
lat_min: ~
lon_max: ~
lon_min: ~
ordinal: 31
parents: []
references:
  - href: http://52.38.26.42:8080/reference/f5ea3c8e-a727-47a1-981c-4db49a0b6d33.yaml
    uri: /reference/f5ea3c8e-a727-47a1-981c-4db49a0b6d33
report:
  display_name: 'Climate Change Impacts in the United States: The Third National Climate Assessment'
report_identifier: nca3
source_citation: (left) Bednaršek et al. 2012;<tbib>f5ea3c8e-a727-47a1-981c-4db49a0b6d33</tbib> (right) Nina Bednaršek
submission_dt: ~
time_end: ~
time_start: ~
title: Shells Dissolve in Acidified Ocean Water
type: figure
uri: /report/nca3/chapter/our-changing-climate/figure/shells-dissolve-in-acidified-ocean-water
url: http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/regions/oceans/graphics/shells-dissolve-acidified-ocean-water
usage_limits: Copyright protected. Obtain permission from the original figure source.