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Our oceans have been soaking in the carbon dioxide at 11 billion tonnes every year, which is almost a quarter that we throw out to the atmosphere. But as the oceans get warmer, this soaking capacity gets reduced. For instance, latest study shows the Sea of Japan has lost half its capacity to absorb CO2.

However, such arcane nuts and bolts of our planet’s chemistry are not typically something that grab a lot of headlines. For instance, 'this frightening research was published in the rather obscure publication Geophysical Research Letters and was picked up in only three on-line publications. In contrast, last night’s Golden Globe awards generated 4,791 Google news hits, but admittedly Eva Longoria’s maraschino-red Reem Acra dress did look fabulous!'

Kitack Lee, an associate professor at Pohang University of Science and Technology, who led the research, says the discovery is the "very first observation that directly relates ocean CO2 uptake change to ocean warming".

With less carbon dioxide being soaked up by warming oceans, we need to drastically reduce future carbon to avoid things getting dangerously out of control. The other nasty side effect of loading our oceans with 11 billion additional tonnes of carbon dioxide every year is that they are becoming more acidic. This in turn means danger for marine life, especially corals, plankton and algae that need dissolved calcium carbonate to make their shells. As acidity increases, this job gets tough.

Since the industrial revolution, the oceans have become 30 percent more acidic. Even at today's level of 380 ppm, nearly half of the world's coral population lives in perilous waters low on calcium carbonate. As this figure increases, the carbonic acid levels will mean lower pH and lesser dissolved carbonate.

Already, a study, published in Science and spearheaded by 39 scientists from 14 countries, revealed that 231 of the 704 reef-building corals studied fell within the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's three most-threatened categories.

Do we care? For the real globe, as much as we do for Golden Globes?