Oceans Passing Critical CO2 Threshold

[babylonsister]

Oceans Passing Critical CO2 Threshold

by Stephen Leahy


UXBRIDGE, Canada - An apparent rapid upswing in ocean acidity in recent years is wiping out coastal species like mussels, a new study has found.


Coral at the Great Barrier Reef. Rising carbon dioxide levels in the world's oceans due to climate change, combined with rising sea temperatures, could accelerate coral bleaching, destroying some reefs before 2050, said an Australian study in January 2002. (Reuters)

"We're seeing dramatic changes," said Timothy Wootton of the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago, lead author of the study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study shows increases in ocean acidity that are more than 10 times faster than any prediction.

"It appears that we've crossed a threshold where the ocean can no longer buffer the effects of CO2 in the atmosphere," Wootton told IPS.

For millions of years, the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the ocean were in balance, but the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation has put more CO2 into the atmosphere over the last 150 years. The oceans have absorbed one-third -- about 130 billion tonnes -- of those human emissions and have become 30 percent more acidic as the extra CO2 combines with carbonate ions in seawater, forming carbonic acid.

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/11/25-6

[Parche]

1. plant millions of trees

asap

[tama]

2. Preferably edible trees

Paradise would be nice. :)

[kurt_cagle]

3. So much for oceanic carbon sequestration

At some point, once the ocean becomes saturated, it becomes a CO2 source rather than sink. This is bad.

[tabatha]

4. That is so ironic -

climate change deniers claimed that the ocean was the largest source of CO2.

They sure had things backwards.

[eppur_se_muova]

5. Kick for more eyeballs. nt