More on ocean acidification

This is the topic of the moment, apparently. The university is hosting a talk on carbon dioxide in the seas, featuring Richard Feely, chemical oceanographer with NOAA. Here's the press release from UAF:

One of the world's preeminent experts on ocean acidification will visit Fairbanks next week and hold a public lecture on the effects of rising carbon dioxide levels in the ocean.

Richard Feely is an oceanographer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle.

The public lecture will be held at 7:00 pm, Wednesday, September 24, at the Princess Riverside Lodge in Fairbanks.

According to Jeremy Mathis, a chemical oceanographer at UAF's School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, Feely has been a leading expert on ocean acidification for at least twenty years.

In his abstract for the talk, Feely says that today's record high carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are the "direct result of the industrial and agricultural activities of humans over the past two centuries."

Feely adds that carbon dioxide levels are "now higher than experienced on Earth for at least the last 800,000 years." Feely believes that these levels will continue to rise.

Feely will discuss the short and long term implications of ocean acidification on marine mammals, fish species and the economies that depend on the world's marine resources.

"Ocean acidification is probably the most imminent threat to the oceans today," said Mathis. He adds that ocean acidification is particularly harmful in Alaska, where cooler waters can speed up the rate of acidification.

Cruising the net, I found a blog all about the problem.

Yup. End times--but only because assholes like Bush won't do anything about it, or, like Palin, sue to prevent protections from being put in place. We HAVE A CHOICE. We can let the world go to hell, or we can clean up after ourselves. Too many religious fruitcakes seem to want to make it go to hell. Don't think the gods, assuming they're out there, will think too kindly of that.