The Atlantic Ocean Is Acidifying at a Rapid Rate

[LouisvilleDem]

Bad news on the acidification front...

Over the past 10 years, the Atlantic Ocean has soaked up 50 percent more carbon dioxide than it did the decade before, measurably speeding up the acidification of the ocean, according to a new study.

The paper, published Saturday in the journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles, “shows the large impact all of us are having on the environment,” Ryan Woosley of the University of Miami said in a statement. “Our use of fossil fuels isn’t only causing the climate to change but also affects the oceans by decreasing the pH.”

The burning of oil, coal, and natural gas for energy and the destruction of forests are the leading causes of the carbon dioxide emissions driving climate change. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen from 355 parts per million in 1989 to just over 400 ppm in 2015.

Decreasing pH in seawater can harm the ability of shelled organisms, from microscopic coccolithophores to the oysters and clams that show up on our dinner plates, to build and maintain their bony exteriors.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

1. That's bad news

Such a great source of food for the world and we're cooking its occupants right in the water.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

2. All of our political squabbling is quickly becoming moot.

We may already be too late, but we need radical action on climate change mitigation NOW. An end to 'all of the above' energy policies, an end to all fossil fuel subsidies, an end to mining coal, oil, natural gas, and a massive shift to renewables.

[2naSalit]

3. That's what needs to happen

Getting there in time to save our (and hopefully many other) species in time is the question.

I heard that in the Us the vast majority of our food comes from five animal and eleven plant species... there's no biodiversity in the majority of our food sources anymore. This is one of the reasons for things like the great potato famine, they focused on one type of potato though there are thousands of types and when the blight took it all out, guess what.

I think you are correct, it may well be too late.