The threat to our oceans

Infographic courtesy of Earthjustice

(click on the image) 

In my previous post, I asked world renowned naturalist Peter Alden: What do you believe is the single, greatest threat to our environment right now?

 
His answer? “Acidification of our oceans.”

And leading scientists concur. 

"We are emitting CO2 at rates greater than worst case scenarios in early reports. If fossil fuel extraction and burning continues at current rates, the future for the ocean is very bleak," says John Guinotte, a coral specialist at the Marine Conservation Institute. 

In an article entitled, Dying Reefs: Can our oceans pass the acid test? published in the Summer 2012 issue of Earthjustice Quarterly Magazine, scientists noted: 

"The phenomenon isn't just limited to the tropical areas that people usually imagine when talking about coral reefs. Arctic waters are acidifying faster than anywhere else, which will have devastating consequences for the marine food web.

The Arctic's frigid waters — which like cold soda holds more carbon or "fizz" than warm soda — are acidifying faster than anywhere else. Scientists tell us that by 2020, 10 percent of the Arctic is likely to reach corrosive levels. By the end of the century, the entire Arctic Ocean will be corrosively acidic."

More on marine ecosystems in my next post.