It is possible that carbon dioxide is increasing the acidity of the oceans at a faster rate than expected
By Charles K. Choi
The abundance of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air has a less well-known consequence: it increases the acidity of water. The oceans naturally dissolve this greenhouse gas in them. In fact, they absorb about a third of the amount of carbon dioxide that humans release into the atmosphere in their activities. When CO2 dissolves in water it forms carbonic acid, the same substance found in carbonated drinks. A new study now raises the concern that the sea water is becoming acidic at a faster rate than the climate change models predict.
Marine ecologist J. Timothy Wootton from the University of Chicago and his colleagues devoted eight years to collecting measurements of acidity, salinity, temperature and other data in the waters near Tatush Island, off the northwest tip of Washington state. They found that acidity is increasing at a rate 10 times higher than the computer climate simulations predicted.
Too acidic water can kill underwater life. For example, the acid may dissolve the calcium carbonate that builds shells, oysters and corals [see "The Dangers of Rising Ocean Acidification" by Scott C. Doney, Scientific American Israel, June 2006]. In their study, published in the December 2, 2008, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Wootton and his colleagues reveal that the balance has been tipped in marine ecosystems: while populations of large shellfish, such as oysters and abalone, have declined, numbers of smaller creatures have increased Armored and calcareous algae lacking a sheath or skeleton. "We believe this is indicative of future trends," says oceanographer Scott C. Doney of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who was not involved in this study.
Wootton says that the changes his team found are indeed related to the increase in CO2 levels in the atmosphere, but he candidly admits that the gas, which causes global warming, is not the main cause of the increase in acidity. Instead, the increase in acidity the researchers saw may be due to carbon-rich seawater rising from the depths nearby. The results may therefore not apply to the entire ocean. And yet, acidity along the American Pacific coast and off the coast of the Netherlands is indeed rising, says Wootton. "And this trend is consistent with the model we found," he adds. The underwater life probably does not have enough time to deal with the changes in the composition of the water.
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Kick the tires and light the fires, problem officially solved!
Stu-edu-kishkishu - for the Earth, a 10-year increase is extremely acute.
A gradual increase is an increase that lasts over 10,000 years.
Well, did you find it in the end?
Besides, how do you put a link exactly to a certain place there?
First, I didn't understand how it is related.. But next time, put a Google Earth link, it's more valuable than a description of "how to get there"
Hopefully we will be able to meet the challenge that we are setting for ourselves
Because the increase in the acidity of the water is gradual and not acute, I tend to believe that there will indeed be an adaptation on the part of the oceans.
I found what looks like a solar power plant on google earth near las vegas.
Instructions:
1. Go to Las Vegas and let north be north.
2. Zoom in to a viewing height (on the right side of the screen) of 30.46 km
3. Go to the upper right side (of Las Vegas) so that the Wikipedia sign will be in the lower left corner of the screen.
4. Move right and up until you don't see Las Vegas (exactly)
5. Zoom in to a view height of 13.64 km and then you will see a gray square in the upper left corner. This is the solar power plant.
It's hard to see if it's really a solar power plant, but if you look closely you can see rounded mirrors that direct the sun's heat to a pipe that's there, I don't know exactly what it is, but it absorbs the heat.