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My marine aquarium gave me quite a shock when I first set it up. Freshwater
fish are not adversely affected by ammonia levels fluctuating +1 ppm, but in
a marine environment, all the expensive, colorful fish die. I quickly
became an "expert" in artificial filtration and biological filters using
enzymes to mimic the natural ocean, without having a trillion or so gallons
of salt water. I never had a pH problem, though. When they measured the
changes of CO2 in Antarctica's ice cores, the changes in CO2 were millions
of years before records were kept. Also, if you ever check the pH of
rainwater, it is almost always neutral (7), unless there is a regional acid
rain problem (from SO2 emissions), but most of those have been cleaned up
somewhat.
Jean's chemistry seems about right, to me. The CO2 guy must have had a
pre-ordained agenda, paid for the one of the greenie groups. Scientific
opinions are bought and paid for daily. If you don't know the author's or
their reputation, it wise to be skeptical, nowdays. Volcano's contribute
sulfuric acid to the ocean, and there are a number of underwater events.
There is one in Hawaii that is forming a new island. No fish are dying
around there, that I have heard of. The volume of the ocean is like outer
space, huge. It would take a lot to change it, but it is always good to
keep a watchful eye on it. Where else can one get swordfish and tuna, or in
Florida, that tasty Pompano?
"George" <george@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:F4kKf.567324$084.236583@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> "Jean" <jean.lenior@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:43f9beaf$0$18307$8fcfb975@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>> George a écrit dans le message ...
>>>http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-02/ci-oms021706.php
>>>
>>>Increased carbon dioxide emissions are rapidly making the world's oceans
>>>more acidic and, if unabated, could cause a mass extinction of marine
>>>life
>>>similar to one that occurred 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs
>>>disappeared. Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institution's Department of
>> NONSENSE SNIPPED
>>
>> The average concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is
>> 0.036%. This value has not changed since records have been kept. Some of
>> this CO2 is dissolved by water ( 0.759ml CO2/ ml H2O at STP) in the
>> atmosphere to give carbonic acid (see
>> Henry's law) this gives the average pH of rainwater of 5.7 This
>> ,rainwater,contributes almost all the acidity from atmospheric CO2 to the
>> ocean. There is very little
>> absorption of CO2 into water at the ocean-air interface.
>> For the acidity of rainwater to have much effect on the ocean would mean
>> a
>> dramatic increase in the acidity of the rain water over a great time
>> span.
>> This would likely wipe out most land species long before there would be
>> even
>> a slight change in the ocean pH.
>> There is no reason to believe that there is any danger at all of this
>> happening in the near geologic future.
>>
>> This paper you cite is not based on anything even close to any kind of
>> scientific study. like checking the pH of ocean water at as many
>> locations
>> needed
>> to make the data significant to see if the pH was indeed decreasing.
>> Papers like these are political science not physical science based only
>> on
>> preconceived conclusions and WILD speculation.
>>
>> JL
>
> I don't claim to be an expert in climate research by any stretch, but you
> may have some valid points here. After thinking about the above, and
> since I have a Marine reef aquarium, I am aware of the buffering capacity
> of ocean water, so it seems to me that it would take a hell of an increase
> in disolved CO2 entering the oceans for it to have a significant affect on
> the oceans' buffering capacity to the point where ecosystems would start
> dying off. Having said that, it also occurred to me that the possibility
> exists that there could be local or regional increases, particularly in
> shallow areas, that could be detrimental, especially to reefs. At any
> rate, I've e-mailed the author of the research to try to get his input on
> the matter. Yes, I asked nicely. :-)
>
> George
>
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