10-31-08, 9:53 am

Global climate change has already begun to make the oceans more acidic, damaging sea life and threatening food chains, a new article at reported this week.

According to the article, the oceans, which cover about two-thirds of the surface of the earth, have absorbed much off the excess heat and carbon dioxide. The oceans store heat from the sun and approximately one-third of the carbon dioxide produced by human activity. Carbon dioxide is a 'greenhouse gas' that causes heat to be trapped in the earth's atmosphere which over the past decades has built up to increase global temperatures.

But as the carbon absorbed into the ocean has also built up, the result has proven deadly to much marine life and could have harmful impacts on human life as well, the article stated.

When carbon and water mix, scientists say, it produces carbonic acid. Subsequently, the water undergoes other chemical reactions raising the acidity levels and reducing carbonate ion, a material some sea creatures need to make shells and skeletal material.

According to the ScienceDaily.com article, oceanic acidity has steadily increased since the beginning of the industrial era, and scientists project that by the end of this century, the levels of acidity in the oceans could be at their highest level in 20 million years.

Marine plant life, oysters and clams, marine snails and smaller fish are the most directly threatened by increased levels of acid in the ocean and the loss of carbonate. But if these species are significantly reduced or die off, it will likely have an impact on animals further up the food chain that depend on these smaller animals and vegetation for sustenance.

Marine chemist Scott Doney was quoted in the article as saying that these changes could cause 'a wholesale alteration of some marine ecosystems in ways we can’t predict.' But, Doney did assert that 'many organisms may be not able to keep up.”

The article closed by posing what may seem like an apocalyptic proposition, but is unfortunately too serious to ignore. 'The really big question is how much longer the ocean can continue to be a sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide before becoming saturated – a process that may already be under way. The implications for our future climate – and the ocean – are immense.'

Being a science article, it offered little in the way of advice on policy, but the conclusions that can be drawn are clear. Human-produced carbon emissions have to be curtailed immediately. From the overproduction of livestock to the excessive dependence on fossil fuels, the culprits for these fundamental changes in the livability of this planet are well known. Finding and investing in alternatives has never been more necessary.