Coral reefs face extinction within 50 years: experts

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by BlueAbyss

What more can I do?

Sounds like you're doing good to me...

[justinl]

Andy, the last time rapid ocean acidification occured, there was a mass marine extinction. i think that's all the perspective anyone needs.

as for the calcium reactor point, you forget that reactors are used outside of systems and pH is still normal in the displays. If the pH is high in the display (the ocean in this case), any calcium carbonate that is formed will dissolve.

[whatcaneyedo]

Originally Posted by AndyL

last place amongst the G8... Really - yet we still emit 10% of the US CO2 emmisions...

http://www.carbonplanet.com/country_emissions

Yeah, but we forget how this work, CO2 acidifies the water, Calcium carbonate disolves, raising pH ... calcium reactor... Reefs have existed during periods where temperatures were much heigher, atmospheric CO2 much heigher...

Lets keep things in perspective...

The figures in the article are per capita and we dont have as large of a population as the USA. Plus it looks like the article I posted is more current than the site you posted.

[plutoniumJoe]

Individual actions will not be enough. Governments and corperations need to make sustainable options the only options available. I applaud stores like Home Depot that now charge for bags.

[AndyL]

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

The figures in the article are per capita and we dont have as large of a population as the USA.

Here this one is better:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...xide_emissions
though I'm willing to bet I will be chided for using wikipedia as a reference.
Still 2.3% of the world CO2 emmisions - if you actually assume these are real numbers - I still find these numbers to be amusing especially when compared to total CO2 emmisions & percentage of errors...

Calcium reactor - it doesn't matter whether its within or external to the display - the chemical reaction is all that matters; you'd probably not be happy if you were to lower your display to a 7.? pH - to raise calcium levels... The chemical reaction still will occur no matter where its located.

Albert - Lets talk over the eons not decades... The oceans pH, and atmospheric CO2 levels have changed radically - yet we don't live in a desolate lifeless world. There are numerous species of current corals that can be found back millions of years - if the changes since then haven't killed these species off...

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by AndyL

Albert - Lets talk over the eons not decades... The oceans pH, and atmospheric CO2 levels have changed radically - yet we don't live in a desolate lifeless world. There are numerous species of current corals that can be found back millions of years - if the changes since then haven't killed these species off...

Your forgetting the time it took for these changes to occur. The changes in atmospheric CO2 levels and ocean PH levels did not fluctuate this fast during the "radical changes" your speaking of. They were much more gradual...tens of thousands of years, not hundreds. The changes didn't kill off the species your speaking of because they didn't happen fast.

Besides, I hope one day when I have kids, they can dive some of the spots around the world I have been lucky enough to visit and still see them in half decent condition. Diving in Australia was the most beautiful experience of my life and yet the local divers who had been in these spots for 30+ years would all tell you the reef was steadily heading downhill.

Im not sure why your trying to defend rapidly declining reefs as ok or normal???

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by AndyL

Albert - Lets talk over the eons not decades... The oceans pH, and atmospheric CO2 levels have changed radically - yet we don't live in a desolate lifeless world. There are numerous species of current corals that can be found back millions of years - if the changes since then haven't killed these species off...

Bollox - show me evidence contrary to what the overwhelming majority of professional career climate and environmental scientist have compiled based upon empirical data.

Since the manufacturing revolution, humans have been the single largest contributors of CO2 emissions by a long shot, something on the order of 150 times more than all the world's active volcanoes combined. The ocean has a natural process of buffering CO2 by circulating it into deeper waters, but this process takes thousands of years. For all intents and purposes, it is a dysfuctional process. As such, the order of magnitude to which the oceanic pH is changing here is unparalleled and, quite frankly, alarming.

For sure, the fact that species will survive is irrelevant and a sellout opinion. You're right, things will survive, mostly seagrasses and algae lifeforms - the types of organisms that will benefit from an increase in dissolved CO2 and a decrease in spacial competition and predation. Anything that has to lay down a calcium based body structure is going to be severely retarded. Hardly what I'd call a comforting fact, nor an excuse for the world to decline vigilance at the call of duty.

[rstar]

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

This is why I'm not having kids. I dont want to bring anyone into this pathetic world we're creating.

I think its thinking like this thats driving the world to where it is going. Our jobs as responsible human beings is to create and raise the next generation to be better and smarter than we are, to make better chioces. If we don't do this then what was it all for? Im sorry to say but as soon as humans gained scentience the path the world is on became the inevitable, the reality is its here. and at the end of it all, even if we end up messing this place up beyond repair i think its better to be able to say we did what we could to help it, than just cross our arms and say im not going to even bother helping the next generation because the world is going to hell in a handbasket.

By the way im not a tree hugger or anything like that, and i really mean no offence to your opinion. i mean really i am here and taking part in a very hippocritical hobby and have no intention on leaving. I just really do believe it is our job to usher in the next generation on people making smarter choices that we did.

[whatcaneyedo]

Sorry but I dont have any faith that people are intelligent enough and will work together to solve this crisis. Its going to take an 'act of god' to fix things. Probably a virus that wipes out the majority of the human race bringing it down to a more manageable level. Thats if we dont all kill each other first in nuclear war.

[Snaz]

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

Probably a virus that wipes out the majority of the human race bringing it down to a more manageable level.

Could be closer than you think. The more people who get H1N1 the bigger the chance the virus flips a couple of nucleotides and mutates into our demise.