Rapidly acidifying waters pose major threat for Southern Ocean ecosystem

[knocker]

 

As a result of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, the chemistry of the Southern Ocean is expected to change so fast over the next few decades that tiny creatures at the base of the food web may soon struggle to form their shells. New research by scientists from the University of Hawai'i, MÄnoa (UHM) and the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF) finds that for some organisms the onset of such critical conditions will be so abrupt, and the duration of events so long, that adaption may become impossible.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-11-rapidly-acidifying-pose-major-threat.html#jCp

 

[mike Meehan]

Personally I think it is a terrifying thought because effectively the bottom of the food chain is affected here and without the bottom of the food chain what are the creatures further up going to eat? The nightmare scenario is that as far as us human gaining much needed protein from the sea, it will diminish depriving us of valuable food - couple that with diminished land suitable for agriculture we could end up in difficulties feeding an ever increasing global human population leading to strife and migration the like of nothing we have seen so far,

 

Of course the deniers, just as supporter of the OUT campaign from the EU, will accuse us of spreading scare stories but I believe the question we should be asking ourselves is, 'should we really be risking the lives of future generations in this way?'

 

Like pretty well everything else money and greed is the underlying cause of anthropogenic global warming and the acidification of the oceans but in the long term it is going to cost far less to take remedial action now.