Oceans turning dangerously acidic

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Oceans turning dangerously acidic

kryppy

07-01-2005

Re: Oceans turning dangerously acidic

Pszemol

07-02-2005

Re: Oceans turning dangerously acidic

kryppy

07-19-2005

Posted by kryppy on July 1, 2005, 11:56 am

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Average pH of seawater has fallen as atmospheric CO2 has increased

BETTE HILEMAN

If current CO2 emission trends continue, the oceans will become so
acidic that corals will cease to thrive, says a report issued on June
30 by the U.K.’s Royal Society.

It explains that, in the past 200 years, the average pH of the surface
seawater has declined from 8.3 to 8.2, which represents a 30% increase
in hydrogen ion concentration. Unless fossil fuel burning is cut back
sharply, the pH could fall an additional 0.5 units by 2100, making the
oceans more acidic than they have been in millions of years, the
report says.

The oceans are a sink for CO2 from fossil fuel, absorbing about half
of emissions. When CO2 dissolves, it produces carbonic acid, which is
corrosive to shells of marine organisms and can interfere with the
oxygen supply of marine animals. It is relatively easy to predict how
much the oceans will acidify under present trends, but difficult to
predict exactly what acidic oceans will mean to ocean ecology and to
Earth’s climate, the report explains.

“If CO2 from human activities continues to rise, the oceans will
become so acidic by 2100, it could threaten marine life in ways we
can’t anticipate,” comments Ken Caldeira, coauthor of the report and
staff scientist at the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global
Ecology in Stanford, Calif. “International and governmental bodies
must focus on this area before it’s too late.”
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/83/i27/8327oceans.html
Chemical & Engineering News
ISSN 0009-2347
Copyright © 2005

Posted by Pszemol on July 2, 2005, 10:32 am

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> "If CO2 from human activities continues to rise, the oceans will
> become so acidic by 2100, it could threaten marine life in ways we
> can't anticipate," comments Ken Caldeira, coauthor of the report and
> staff scientist at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global
> Ecology in Stanford, Calif. "International and governmental bodies
> must focus on this area before it's too late."

Reef keepers in our group have experienced pH drops lower
than that and there was no danger to corals... Lets not panic.

Posted by kryppy on July 19, 2005, 9:42 am

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wrote:

>> "If CO2 from human activities continues to rise, the oceans will
>> become so acidic by 2100, it could threaten marine life in ways we
>> can't anticipate," comments Ken Caldeira, coauthor of the report and
>> staff scientist at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global
>> Ecology in Stanford, Calif. "International and governmental bodies
>> must focus on this area before it's too late."

>
>Reef keepers in our group have experienced pH drops lower
>than that and there was no danger to corals... Lets not panic.

You ain't kidding, but I have seen enough posts about airtight houses
that it seems like it could become a problem...

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