Bread and CircusesIt’s not only Earth’s atmosphere that is warming very rapidly. Perhaps even more worrisome is the tremendous amount of change occurring in our seas.
More than 90% of the excess heat trapped in the Earth system due to human-caused global warming has been absorbed by the oceans, which currently store 50 times more carbon than the atmosphere and 20 times more than land plants and soil combined.
It’s not certain, however, how long this ratio can be sustained. As the ocean continues to heat up like the rest of the planet, its waters are projected to become *less* efficient at taking in carbon dioxide and may release it back into the atmosphere more rapidly.
Also, the more CO₂ the ocean absorbs, the more acidic its chemistry becomes. After years of working overtime to take in some of the excess carbon we’ve pumped into the atmosphere, ocean acidification has already increased 30% compared to pre-industrial levels, and could increase an additional 120% in the decades ahead. That, in turn, could lead to severe disruptions in the worldwide food chain, followed by famine and starvation such as we’ve never seen.
I wish I was exaggerating. But I’m not. We are in grave danger.
#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency
Kent Pitman
xs4me2
Bruce Mirken
HeatherMJ