Ocean Acidification – Mankind’s Most Dangerous Enemy?

Part 1 of a 3 part series -

By Mike Madsen

As global climate change continues to be debated by people on both sides of the issue, a subtle, growing change caused by global climate change is happening within our oceans, one that is not in debate but is physically being documented as it happens. This change is called ocean acidification.

Earth’s rapidly rising temperatures are causing ice to melt at both poles (from glaciers in mountain top valleys to the Greenland ice sheet) causing sea levels to rise all over the planet, endangering coastal cities and habitats. This is problematic enough for any civilization, but ocean acidification makes this problem look trivial in comparison. It is a global problem unlike anything we’ve seen before with the potential to cause a massive die-off of species that is unparalleled in scale and nature, called a Global Mass Extinction. Let’s examine what ocean acidification is and why it is so dangerous to mankind and all other species on Earth.

As global CO2 levels have risen, something most people don’t realize is that Earth’s line of defense against excess CO2 are our oceans. Though our oceans are resilient, as we have overpopulated the earth and poured greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, our oceans have been asked to do more and more; at this point about 30% of the CO2 emitted since the beginning of the industrial revolution has been absorbed by our oceans. Our oceans act as a filter for carbons and CO2 this has a very real impact on the chemistry of our ocean.

As our oceans absorb CO2, it dissolves into the seawater, which in turn creates carbonic acid. That breaks down into bicarbonate, carbonate and hydrogen ions, causing the ocean pH level to drop from 8.2 to 8.1. Doesn’t sound like a lot, right? But it is. Because pH levels are measured on what’s called a “Logarithmic scale,” this change is extremely significant.

For instance, even if we cease or drastically curtail greenhouse gas emissions tomorrow, the impact to our oceans already is so severe that it could make tropical and sub-tropical reefs extinct by the year 2050. This would start a cascading chain of events that would cause a global collapse of the entire food chain surrounding coral reefs. Aside from obvious negative impacts on humans, there are a raft of repercussions we haven’t predicted yet.

Sound scary enough? We haven’t even begun. Check for more information in part two.

Source Articles –

Logan, Cheryl. “A Review of Ocean Acidification and America’s Response” Journal of Bioscience – http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org/content/60/10/819.full

The Disaster We’ve Wrought on the World’s Oceans May Be Irrevocable http://www.newsweek.com/2014/07/11/disaster-weve-wrought-worlds-oceans-may-be-irrevocable-256962.html

Anthropogenic ocean acidification over the twenty-first century and its impact on calcifying organisms – http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v437/n7059/full/nature04095.html

Ocean acidification could have broad effects on marine ecosystems – http://news.ucsc.edu/2008/12/2639.html