Acid seas kill off coral reefs

[Shelor]

The world’s coral reefs could disappear within a few decades along with hundreds of species of plankton and shellfish, according to new studies into man’s impact on the oceans.

Researchers have found that carbon dioxide, the gas already blamed for causing global warming, is also raising the acid levels in the sea. The shells of coral and other marine life dissolve in acid. The process is happening so fast that many such species, including coral, crabs, oysters and mussels, may become unable to build and repair their shells and will die out, say the researchers.

“Increased carbon dioxide emissions are making the world’s oceans more acidic and could cause a mass extinction of marine life similar to the one that occurred on land when the dinosaurs disappeared,” said Professor Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institution’s global ecology department.

When CO2 produced by burning fossil fuels dissolves in the ocean, it forms carbonic acid. A little of this can benefit marine life by providing carbonate ions — a vital constituent in the biochemical process by which sea creatures such as corals and molluscs build their shells.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2058687,00.html

[NMDemDist2]

1. K&N this should go on the front page n/t

[phantom power]

2. There's also the question of what happens when the ocean stops

absorbing CO2. We've been "benefitting" from the ocean's behavior as an enormous CO2 buffer system. The buffer is getting full.

[ladjf]

3. Of all the plants and animals on this planet, only humans seem

to be unable to live their lives without destroying all opportunities for survival. Only humans are capable of totally rendering the planet uninhabitable. Good job. Don't worry. certain humans have "dominion" over everything. God told them so.