2009-02-01 Ocean Acidification: The Other CO2 Problem

2009-02-01 Eric Drexler Metamodern \global warming\ocean acidification\climate change\CO2 buildup http://metamodern.com/2009/02/01/ocean-acidification-the-other-co2-problem/ Ocean Acidification: The Other CO2 Problem Ocean Acidification: The Other CO2 Problem  There's recently been another ripple of media attention to the other CO2 problem: Not climate change, but ocean acidification. In brief: The oceans absorb a portion of CO2 emissions; this mitigates greenhouse warming, but forms carbonic acid, lowering ocean pH. Acidification of the oceans impedes the formation of coral and shells, and within decades, if trends continue, the calcium carbonate that forms the skeletons of many ocean organisms will become unstable and simply dissolve. Scientists expect that, well before that point, most coral reefs and the ecosystems they will be deeply disrupted or destroyed.

The fact that this problem exists is slowly percolating into the public mind. Understanding of a crucial aspect of the basic cause-and-effect relationship, though, has gotten approximately nowhere. This understanding is derailed by an insidious comprehension-gap, an amplified form of a comprehension-gap that derails understanding of a crucial aspect of the climate change problem.

&ldquo;In brief: The oceans absorb a portion of CO2 emissions; this ... forms carbonic acid, [causing] acidification of the oceans [, which] impedes the formation of coral and shells, and within decades, if trends continue, the calcium carbonate that forms the skeletons of many ocean organisms will become unstable and simply dissolve.&rdquo;   