“A reduction in the pH of the ocean, accompanied by other chemical changes (primarily in the levels of carbonate and bicarbonate ions), over an extended period, typically decades or longer, which is caused primarily by uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, but can also be caused by other chemical additions or subtractions from the ocean. Anthropogenic OA refers to the component of pH reduction that is caused by human activity (IPCC, 2011, p. 37). See also Carbon cycle, Climate change and Global warming.” [1]
“By 2011, the ocean had taken up about 30 ± 7% of the anthropogenic CO2 that had been released to the atmosphere since the industrial revolution (Ciais et al., 2013; Section 5.2). In response, ocean pH decreased by 0.1 since the beginning of the industrial era (high confidence), corresponding to an increase in acidity of 26% (Table SM1.1) and leading to both positive and negative biological and ecological impacts (high confidence) (Gattuso et al., 2014).” [2]
[1] Source: IPCC, 2019: Annex I: Glossary [Weyer, N.M. (ed.)]. In: IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, V. Masson-Delmotte, P. Zhai, M. Tignor, E. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Nicolai, A. Okem, J. Petzold, B. Rama, N.M. Weyer (eds.)]. In Press.
[2] Source: Abram, N., J.-P. Gattuso, A. Prakash, L. Cheng, M.P. Chidichimo, S. Crate, H. Enomoto, M. Garschagen, N. Gruber, S. Harper, E. Holland, R.M. Kudela, J. Rice, K. Steffen, and K. von Schuckmann, 2019: Framing and Context of the Report. In: IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, V. Masson-Delmotte, P. Zhai, M. Tignor, E. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Nicolai, A. Okem, J. Petzold, B. Rama, N.M. Weyer (eds.)]. In press.
The above definition was taken from the IPCC report available at:
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/