ABSTRACT
Toxicology traditionally deals with contaminants released locally or regionally that impact one or several species. Even though chemical application and direct habitat alteration have long been recognized as impacting regional or global ecosystems, we now realize that less obviously harmful human activities are affecting not only individual species, but also the entire planet. Chief among the planetary concerns are the effects, direct and indirect, of the large amounts of fossil fuel pollution being disposed of in Earth’s atmosphere. Combustion of fossil fuels releases CO2, which has been measurably increasing in the atmosphere for over half a century. Impacts of this CO2 buildup may affect all wildlife on Earth, both marine and terrestrial, and are the subject of this chapter.
