Carbon Dioxide is killing the Ocean life.
From
Gryphon@VERT/CYBERIA to
All on Monday, October 27, 2014 10:09:00
Apparently, Global Warming is not the only result of our dependance on fossil-fuels. The burning of the fossil-fuels causes enormous amounts of green-house gasses to enter the atmosphere, which does cause warming. But the Carbon Dioxide gets absorbed into the oceans and makes them more acidic; not just warmer.
Carbon Dioxide Is Putting Shelled Animals at Risk
For tens of millions of years, Earth's oceans have maintained a
relatively stable acidity level. It's within this steady environment
that the rich and varied web of life in today's seas has arisen and
flourished. But research shows that this ancient balance is being
undone by a recent and rapid drop in surface pH that could have
devastating global consequences.
Since the beginning of the industrial revolution in the early 1800s,
fossil fuel-powered machines have driven an unprecedented burst of
human industry and advancement. The unfortunate consequence, however,
has been the emission of billions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) and
other greenhouse gases into Earth's atmosphere.
Scientists now know that about half of this anthropogenic, or man-made,
CO2 has been absorbed over time by the oceans. This has benefited us by
slowing the climate change these emissions would have instigated if
they had remained in the air. But relatively new research is finding
that the introduction of massive amounts of CO2 into the seas is
altering water chemistry and affecting the life cycles of many marine
organisms, particularly those at the lower end of the food chain.
Carbonic Acid
When carbon dioxide dissolves in this ocean, carbonic acid is formed.
This leads to higher acidity, mainly near the surface, which has been
proven to inhibit shell growth in marine animals and is suspected as a
cause of reproductive disorders in some fish.
On the pH scale, which runs from 0 to 14, solutions with low numbers
are considered acidic and those with higher numbers are basic. Seven is
neutral. Over the past 300 million years, ocean pH has been slightly
basic, averaging about 8.2. Today, it is around 8.1, a drop of 0.1 pH
units, representing a 25-percent increase in acidity over the past two
centuries.
Carbon Storehouse
The oceans currently absorb about a third of human-created CO2
emissions, roughly 22 million tons a day. Projections based on these
numbers show that by the end of this century, continued emissions could
reduce ocean pH by another 0.5 units. Shell-forming animals including
corals, oysters, shrimp, lobster, many planktonic organisms, and even
some fish species could be gravely affected.
Equally worrisome is the fact that as the oceans continue to absorb
more CO2, their capacity as a carbon storehouse could diminish. That
means more of the carbon dioxide we emit will remain in the atmosphere,
further aggravating global climate change.
Scientific awareness of ocean acidification is relatively recent, and
researchers are just beginning to study its effects on marine
ecosystems. But all signs indicate that unless humans are able to
control and eventually eliminate our fossil fuel emissions, ocean
organisms will find themselves under increasing pressure to adapt to
their habitat's changing chemistry or perish.
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