The world's oceans are acidifying at an "unprecedented rate" and could be doing so at a rate higher than at any point in the last 300 million years, BBC News reported.

International Biosphere-Geosphere Program scientists reported in a recent study that acidification in the world's ocean will increase by 170 percent by the year 2100. The huge uptick will likely mean the end of about 30 percent of the oceans' species.

The researchers will present their study at global climate meetings next week in Poland and said carbon dioxide, or CO2, is the root cause.

"This is the state of the art," said Prof Jean-Pierre Gattuso, from CNRS, the French national research agency. "My colleagues have not found in the geological record, rates of change that are faster than the ones we see today."

The study is a review of ocean acidification data gathered from more than 500 of the world's leading experts in a 2012 meeting in California. The Ocean Acidification Summary of Policy Makers 2013 states the growing rates are almost certainly manmade and estimates 24 million tons of CO2 is deposited in the oceans every day.

"You don't find a mollusk at the pH level expected for 2100, this is really quite a stunning fact," said Gattuso. "It's an imperfect window, only the ocean's acidity is increasing at these sites, they don't reflect the warming we will see this century."

Also in grave danger of rising acidity is corals, some marine animals and other ocean species. Some effects of rising acidity are already being felt and will be seen in the near future.

The team's research suggests ten percent of the arctic ocean will be uninhabitable by the year 2020. By 2100, it will be completely uninhabitable.

"In the Southern Ocean, we already see corrosion of pteropods which are like sea snails, in the ocean we see corrosion of the shell," said Gattuso. "They are a key component in the food chain, they are eaten by fish, birds and whales, so if one element is going then there is a cascading impact on the whole food chain."