Carbon Dioxide in the Oceans – Too Much Already

It was not so long ago I wrote about an article I read which was arguing for the sequestration of carbon dioxide in the oceans of the world. I said this one did not even pass the Homer Simpson test for feasibility, yet I was bombarded by mo than a few saying I could not possibly know about what I was speaking.

Not as a measure of vanity, but as a message to push the importance of the problems with that idea, and the fact that huge as our oceans are, they are at the breaking point when speaking of acidification there. (Carbon dioxide, the product of breathing, and of the burning of fossil fuels, is a compound that becomes a very weak acid when coming into contact with water. But like other things weak, buildup can mean a huge difference in the total acidity of an otherwise incomprehensibly large volume.)

BBC News has this article and warning -

Carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are acidifying the oceans and threaten a mass extinction of sea life, a top ocean scientist warns.

Dr Carol Turley from Plymouth Marine Laboratory says it is impossible to know how marine life will cope, but she fears many species will not survive.

Since the Industrial Revolution, CO2 emissions have already turned the sea about 30% more acidic, say researchers.

It is more acidic now than it has been for at least 500,000 years, they add.

The problem is set to worsen as emissions of the greenhouse gas increase through the 21st Century.

“I am very worried for ocean ecosystems which are currently productive and diverse,” Carol Turely told BBC News.

“I believe we may be heading for a mass extinction, as the rate of change in the oceans hasn’t been seen since the dinosaurs.

“It may have a major impact on food security. It really is imperative that we cut emissions of CO2.”

Dr Turley is chairing a session on ocean acidification at the Copenhagen Climate Change Congress.

much of the article omitted for brevity  (make the jump here)

“When you start messing around with a complex ecosystem it is impossible to tell what will happen.”

The Ischia site does not present a perfect experiment for future oceans because levels of acidity shift regularly as the currents change, whereas future oceanic pH levels will be more stable.

But the site does show clear winners and losers: the lush seagrass, hyper-fertilised by CO2, may be the tallest in the world.

The extra acidity will suit some creatures, but Dr Hall-Spencer argues that the diversity of the site is reduced and therefore it is likely that productivity of valuable species will diminish in future acidified oceans.

Ocean acidification is increasingly known as “the other CO2 problem”.

It is a new branch of science and researchers were initially uncertain how seriously to take the threat.

“In 2004, I did a Google search for ocean acidification and got 17 hits,” says Dr Turley.

“Now you get hundreds of thousands. There is much more evidence to show this will be a problem for the future - indeed it may even be a problem for now.”

For many people it will strike a sobering note that humans appear to be changing the chemistry of the mighty oceans.

Those that believe we, as humans, can’t possibly cause enough destruction to ruin the oceans need to rethink there basis for the thought, and others who see the need to change should push others toward the same change. Fringe changes now, that we are so adept at ignoring, will become mainstream soon, and the changes will affect our lives in ways we know, but others we probably have not begun to imagine.

It’s not nice to mess with Mother Nature. The Earth, and specifically the oceans, have an enormous capability to accept the mistreatment that we dish out, but the limits are in sight.

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