“The last time the oceans endured such a drastic change
in chemistry was 65 million years ago, at about the same time
the dinosaurs went extinct.” - Ken Caldeira, Ph.D., Stanford University
June 21, 2008 Corvallis, Oregon and Shelton, Washington - Ocean water along the Pacific Coast has increased in acidity so much after absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere that scientists are surprised. None of the global warming climate models saw open oceans increasing in acidity by 30% until the end of the 21st Century. But the Earth is changing much faster than computer models can project. A new study published in the June 2008 journal, Science, shows that ocean water only four miles off the northern California shore, is already 30% more acidic than normal.
By 2008, it is estimated that oceans have absorbed 525 billion tons of greenhouse gases. All the carbon dioxide absorbed by seawater has produced increasing amounts of carbonic acid. The calcium carbonate shells of clams, oysters, corals, diatoms and some planktons weaken and disintegrate in carbonic acid. Could we be facing a time in the next few decades where shellfish, corals, diatoms and planktons won't be able to survive? Like dominoes falling, without them in the food chain, what happens to other marine life? And what happens to humans who depend on sea creatures for food?
[...]
