Largest Mass Extinction Ever Caused By Ocean Acidification

OCEAN ACIDIFICATION CAUSED THE LARGEST MASS EXTINCTION EVER

AND ACIDIFICATION IS ON THE RISE AGAIN

252 million years ago, massive volcanic eruptions sent a vast amount of lava flowing out onto the earth, and spewed huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the air, chemically altering the oceans in a series of events that would change life on earth forever.

It sounds like the dramatic plot of a science fiction thriller, but those are the findings of a new study published this week in Science that found that the largest extinction event on earth was caused by ocean acidification.

One of the lead authors, Matthew Clarkson, said in a press release, "Scientists have long suspected that an ocean acidification event occurred during the greatest mass extinction of all time, but direct evidence has been lacking until now. This is a worrying finding, considering that we can already see an increase in ocean acidity today that is the result of human carbon emissions."

Let's be clear. This is NOT about global warming. It's about Ocean acidification.

And by any standards, it's not good.

We need our oceans - along with all other life on earth, our lives depend on them. Time to take action.

a reply to: soficrow

You are right, this is not good....So...What do we do?

This article states that this took a period of over 60,000 years to kill off the marine life, so where do we stand currently and what steps can be taken to eliminate this possibility of happening again?

I understand the concern but I don't know how to even respond to say we need to do this or that....????

a reply to: Chrisfishenstein

What can we do? ...Funny. Just posted this thread:

What Can We Do? ...Landmark Dutch Lawsuit Puts Governments Around the World on Notice




Well, it's something.

a reply to: soficrow

I mean something realistic! We aren't going to sue the governments....

What actions can be taken by man to stop this from getting worse? Or is there anything that can even be done at this point? Also, one more thing....If we take actions now, is there any guarantee this problem goes away just by taking action or it is too bad to stop at this point?

Sorry to not have an opinion, I just learned of this from you here....So I am not really sure what can be done here

a reply to: Chrisfishenstein

I mean something realistic! We aren't going to sue the governments....

It's already happening.

We aren't going to sue the governments....

Why not?

a reply to: Chrisfishenstein

Cut carbon emissions.

a reply to: soficrow

I'm a little confused by the claim of carbon raising acidity. I've got a dozen fishtanks, half of which have carbon dioxide bubblers in them, and the PH level of the water does not change AT ALL.

originally posted by: soficrow
a reply to: Chrisfishenstein

I mean something realistic! We aren't going to sue the governments....

It's already happening.

We aren't going to sue the governments....

Why not?

So let me get this straight....Your answer to solving this problem and keeping it from happening is to sue the government?

haha...Sorry but I don't think that is going to help...anything really other than a savings/checking account...

I guess we do the same thing we did 252 million years ago. That helped right?

If it is going to happen, it is going to happen, and there isn't a dang thing we will be able to do to stop it.

a reply to: SpongeBeard

Showing results for what is ocean acidification:

oceanservice.noaa.gov...

www.pmel.noaa.gov...

en.wikipedia.org...]Ocean acidification




How 'bout you do the rest.

originally posted by: Chrisfishenstein
a reply to: soficrow

I mean something realistic! We aren't going to sue the governments....

What actions can be taken by man to stop this from getting worse? Or is there anything that can even be done at this point? Also, one more thing....If we take actions now, is there any guarantee this problem goes away just by taking action or it is too bad to stop at this point?

Sorry to not have an opinion, I just learned of this from you here....So I am not really sure what can be done here

Stop burning fossil fuels.

originally posted by: chiefsmom
I guess we do the same thing we did 252 million years ago. That helped right?

If it is going to happen, it is going to happen, and there isn't a dang thing we will be able to do to stop it.

Not if we stop burning fossil fuels but there are enough people in government (especially USA) who have your attitude that have been dragging their feet for years and enjoy all the benefits of propping up a corrupt oil industry.

With your attitude 30 years ago we would have carried on with CFC's and be currently hiding from daylight !!!!! But no, smart people stopped using CFC's, governments legislated against it and lo and behold the ozone layer started to recover.

originally posted by: yorkshirelad

originally posted by: Chrisfishenstein
a reply to: soficrow

I mean something realistic! We aren't going to sue the governments....

What actions can be taken by man to stop this from getting worse? Or is there anything that can even be done at this point? Also, one more thing....If we take actions now, is there any guarantee this problem goes away just by taking action or it is too bad to stop at this point?

Sorry to not have an opinion, I just learned of this from you here....So I am not really sure what can be done here

Stop burning fossil fuels.

Well apparently I understand that part, but if we stop completely right now is there any evidence to support that this will actually work? Will this put "things back to normal"? Or are we too far gone?

A good first step would be to find a way of limiting runoff from industrial fertilizers. I have read a lot of articles about the acidic runoff of industrial fertilizers causing the PH of the oceans to lower (become more acidic), causing algae blooms in the areas where it happens the most. If scientists could figure out an extremely efficient way to neutralize the acids from fertilizer runoff BEFORE it hits the water, I'm sure it would make a huge difference. I have no idea how they could do that, other than dumping super-alkaline minerals at the majority of the runoff points all around the world. If they decide do do that, just think for a minute what your grocery bill will be THEN! What the world needs is a super-cheap method of neutralizing acids, and a super plentiful supply of whatever allows that method to work. Any way you slice it, it will be EXPENSIVE!

I don't know how many alkaline minerals they could dump into the oceans. I'm not sure if there is enough of those to do that. Just think of the amount of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) it would take to raise the PH of the entire ocean(s)!

I don't know if scientists could figure out a way to redirect lava flows in a controlled manner. On the surface, it sounds like a good idea to me, but I can't think of a way to do that myself. Maybe a scientist could invent a way to pump lava from volcanoes before they erupt, but I have my doubts that something like that is even possible.

a reply to: yorkshirelad
Like you actually have a clue about my attitude. LOL mkay.

I never said one word about pollution did I? Did I?

But it sure happened 252 million years ago didn't it? Without us polluting. THAT, is what I was commenting on, dear sir or madam.

originally posted by: SpongeBeard
a reply to: soficrow

I'm a little confused by the claim of carbon raising acidity. I've got a dozen fishtanks, half of which have carbon dioxide bubblers in them, and the PH level of the water does not change AT ALL.

H2O = water.
CO2 = carbon dioxide.
H2CO3 = carbonic acid.

That part is pretty simple, really. However, then you get into ions, and you end up with carbonate and bicarbonate, too - along with free hydrogen ions.

If you are using CO2 bubblers I would imagine that it's because you are growing aquatic plants in your aquariums. Those consume CO2 to survive, so they will offset the introduction of CO2. The aquariums might be quite full of plants (in volume comparison), but compare that to the hundreds or thousands of feet deep oceans all over the world.

The pH of the ocean is estimated to have changed by over -0.1 units overall since the industrial revolution, and is expected change between -0.3 to -0.5 eventually. If you're not using a very accurate pH monitor that is particularly accurate, you'd probably miss it.

a reply to: soficrow

So in other words, if there's another massive volcanic eruption such as Yosemite or other large caldera, then we can expect the same to happen. How do we stop that?

a reply to: Chrisfishenstein

So let me get this straight....Your answer to solving this problem and keeping it from happening is to sue the government?

Maybe it would. I was reading an article recently that counttries may be able to sue the US for being the main contributer to global warming..

purp..

originally posted by: Chrisfishenstein

originally posted by: yorkshirelad

originally posted by: Chrisfishenstein
a reply to: soficrow

I mean something realistic! We aren't going to sue the governments....

What actions can be taken by man to stop this from getting worse? Or is there anything that can even be done at this point? Also, one more thing....If we take actions now, is there any guarantee this problem goes away just by taking action or it is too bad to stop at this point?

Sorry to not have an opinion, I just learned of this from you here....So I am not really sure what can be done here

Stop burning fossil fuels.

Well apparently I understand that part, but if we stop completely right now is there any evidence to support that this will actually work? Will this put "things back to normal"? Or are we too far gone?

Too far gone to prevent more climate change, yes. Too far gone to prevent substantially more extreme climate change, no.

Eventually, over hundreds to thousands of years the extra carbon will be eaten by acquatic microbes and some of them will die and fall to the sea bottom and NOT be decayed aerobically (which would release their carbon again). Basically, start to re-make coal and oil.

Fossil fuels today are found in the remnants of long-time oceans and were formed mostly from algae.

originally posted by: purplemer
a reply to: Chrisfishenstein

So let me get this straight....Your answer to solving this problem and keeping it from happening is to sue the government?

Maybe it would. I was reading an article recently that counttries may be able to sue the US for being the main contributer to global warming..

purp..

You really think this is winnable in court against the government? Really there isn't even actual proof of global warming...There are convincing arguments both ways really...Nothing that swung my view one way or another...Honestly that might just be why there isn't convincing evidence for global warming, if the government could be sued that is just about reason enough for no actual real hardcore evidence to surface!