AP: Expert says oceans are turning acidic

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CLIMATE_CONFERENCE

Nov 9, 1:43 PM EST

Expert says oceans are turning acidic

By ANTHONY MITCHELL
Associated Press Writer

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- The world's oceans are becoming more acidic, which poses a threat to sea life and Earth's fragile food chain, a climate expert said Thursday.

Oceans have already absorbed a third of the world's emissions of carbon dioxide, one of the heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming, leading to acidification that prevents vital sea life from forming properly.

"The oceans are rapidly changing," said professor Stefan Rahmstorf on the sidelines of a U.N. conference on climate change that has drawn delegates from more than 100 countries to Kenya. "Ocean acidification is a major threat to marine organisms."

Fish stocks and the world's coral reefs could also be hit while acidification risks "fundamentally altering" the food chain, he said.

In a study titled "The Future Oceans - Warming Up, Rising High, Turning Sour," Rahmstorf and eight other scientists warned that the world is witnessing, on a global scale, problems similar to the acid rain phenomenon of the 1970s and 1980s.

...

[DixieBlue]

1. More lovely news on the environmental front ...

God, is there any way to turn this around? The news just keeps getting worse. We are, by far, the worst things to have happened to this planet.

[lapfog_1]

4. We must stop using fossil fuels.

We don't have 50 years or 25 years, we may not have 10 years.

[OKIsItJustMe]

6. Worst things to have happened?

As I recall, in Gaia, Lovelock pointed out that the anaerobic bacteria created an environmental catastrophe by releasing tremendous amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere.

Bad for them; good for us.

All of the CO₂ we've released may prove bad for us, but good for some new life forms. :-(

[demnan]

2. The Environment should be first on the agenda

Let's all get ready to write letters to our Democratic Congress and get something done before its too late.

[Karenina]

10. It's BEEN TOO LATE for decades.

We had a chance when I was a kid in elementary school. That was a L-O-N-G time ago. Carter put up solar panels on the White House, Reagan TOOK THEM DOWN. What we can do now is PLAN for the changes that have long since been set in motion.

[OKIsItJustMe]

14. Carter and Coal

Unfortunately, along with conservation, Jimmy Carter also encouraged increased use of coal.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/filmmore/ps_energy.html

...
Because we are now running out of gas and oil, we must prepare quickly for a third change, to strict conservation and to the use of coal and permanent renewable energy sources, like solar power.
...
If we wait, and do not act, then our factories will not be able to keep our people on the job with reduced supplies of fuel. Too few of our utilities will have switched to coal, our most abundant energy source.
...
The fourth principle is that we must reduce our vulnerability to potentially devastating embargoes. We can protect ourselves from uncertain supplies by reducing our demand for oil, making the most of our abundant resources such as coal, and developing a strategic petroleum reserve.
...
The ninth principle is that we must conserve the fuels that are scarcest and make the most of those that are more plentiful. We can't continue to use oil and gas for 75 percent of our consumption when they make up seven percent of our domestic reserves. We need to shift to plentiful coal while taking care to protect the environment, and to apply stricter safety standards to nuclear energy.
...
--Increase our coal production by about two thirds to more than 1 billion tons a year.
...

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

16. His forsight wasn't perfect and he could only do so much

Politics is the art of the achievable.

Carter certainly was not in favor of the current planetary rape of the corporations for profit.

[Raster]

29. Ronnie the Raygun took them down because his puppet masters in

the Texas Petroleum Mafia told him too. They're also the ones that supplied the bush* administration with their very own in-house global warming denier:

Cooney Resigns After Altering Science Report
EDITOR OF CLIMATE REPORTS RESIGNS

The New York Times, June 11, 2005

Philip A. Cooney, chief of staff to President Bush's Council on Environmental Quality, has resigned, White House officials said. Mr. Cooney's resignation came two days after documents revealed that he had edited government climate reports in ways that cast doubt on the link between greenhouse-gas emissions and rising temperatures. Mr. Cooney has no scientific training. Dana Perino, a deputy White House press secretary, said the decision was unrelated to revelations about the documents. Mr. Cooney did not respond to e-mail or phone messages left at his home.
____________________

I guess it was too much of a stretch for Cooney to realize his children and grandchildren will live with the consequences of his lies.

[The Stranger]

3. Can we get the Imbecile in the White House to sign the Kyoto Protocol?

If not, impeach the living shit out of that fuck and then send him to the Hague.

We have a planet to save.

[lapfog_1]

5. Kyoto isn't enough

by a long shot.

We need to take radical action. Now.

[The Stranger]

18. I agree, but it is where we were 6 years ago. What else do we need to do?

I'm all ears.

[reprobate]

7. Ocean acidification is a major threat to all human organisms.

The phytoplankton in the oceans produce over half of all the oxygen we need to live.

Acidification kills phytoplankton. This means less oxygen for us to breath.

Question: Where are we going to get the rest of the oxygen that we, and all the other living animals find necessary?

[Shine]

8. This is disturbing news and hopefully another call to action for the newly

elected Dems. :thumbsup:

[The Witch]

9. All I can think of is that scene in Dante's Peak...

when they are trying to row through the acid lake...

Pardon me while I :puke:

[earth mom]

11. I'm going to take this story to the guy at meat & fish counter who defended

the oil companies a day or so before the election!

Neither of us had seen Gore's film, so I couldn't argue the points as well as I'd wanted to, but I already KNEW beyond a doubt that he was wrong and that we do NOT need oil, and that we must find cleaner, alternative fuels.

:cry: For the oceans...for the sealife...and for all of us.

[lovuian]

12. can we use a Base to take away the acid???

Something has to be done
which means Acid rain is coming too

[Barrett808]

22. An interesting idea...

...but it would take millions of tons of base to neutralize the acid. I remember reading the oceans are soaking up a million tons of carbon per day.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

23. Cars that run on Drain-O?

:think:

[YankeyMCC]

13. k&r

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

15. We have to stop burning coal and convince the Chinese to do so.

That is where much of the acid rain originates, in coal fired power plants.

[kestrel91316]

17. Hey, guys, this is actually really GREAT!!!!!!!!!

Now, when the fishing nets come up, they will be filled with ready-to-eat ceviche!!!

I'm SOOOOOO happy. I never seem to have time to cook anymore, and now I won't have to.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

19. The oceans are converting to Judaism?

Oh, acidic, not Hasidic. Well, since shellfish and the like are going to vanish, I guess the oceans ARE getting more kosher.

[Mr_Spock]

20. Can't wait to go swimming in the middle of winter in boiling acid

That has risen to my back door!

Not funny huh? :(

[Blaq Dem]

21. Someone needs to tell Kat Harris to stop peeing in the swimming pool

[hatrack]

24. Shit, I was posting this MONTHS ago!!

Y'all have got to spend more time on the Environment/Energy board!

[oblivious]

26. For this reason, I think it's better to post it in GD and have it transferred to EE later.

[BeHereNow]

25. No worries- the Bushies bought that ranch near the fresh water

aquifer in Paraguay, oh, and hey, so did the Reverend Moon!
Wonder which other global elites are buying there?

How convenient that they also used our tax dollars to
build ANOTHER military base there too!

But then, they must protect themselves from the unwashed masses
who will be left to suffer the consequences of their
actions which we WILL see in our lifetimes.

BHN

[Teaser]

27. This is great news

Slowly, this planet is turning into Apokolips.

And I am motherfucking Darkseid.

[ozone_man]

28. Another link

I couldn't get that one to work. Another wake up call to save the oceans before we kill them.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061109/ap_on_sc/climate_conference