You knew that there was a recent report on the state of climate change by a team of 100s of scientists from all over the world. You knew that they agreed that climate change is real, happening faster than previously thought, and was probably promoted by mankind's various activities. You knew that. And you've probably filed that one away somewhere in your "oh-well-it's-not-the-day-after-tomorrow" file drawer. OK. Your drawers about to get a little more crowded. Here's a new report on the state of the oceans. It's not good.
Basically, The International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) has released this report that suggests that the ocean's role as earth's buffer is being seriously compromised. Buffer....where have we heard that term recently...oh yea - last week, about Wetlands acting as a buffer against storms, floods, excess water etc. Oceans act as the planet's buffer by absorbing other potential shocks, such as pollutants, oxygen loss to ensure homeostasis on a planetary basis. So if ocean's abilities to act as a buffer are being compromised - well, that...can't...be....too...good, uh, I guess. No, it's not.
Here's the $64,000 quote from the report:
"A “deadly trio” of warming, deoxygenation and increased acidification combined, the report found, are posing an even greater threat to the oceans than they would alone. While the carbon absorbed from the atmosphere promotes increased warming and acidification, pollution from sewage and fertilizer is creating algae blooms that decrease the oceans’ levels of oxygen. The report found that overfishing, too, threatens marine life.
The acidification, specifically, is “unprecedented in the Earth’s known history,” says the report, which found that the oceans are more acidic now than they’ve been for the past 300 million years. And carbon is being released into the ocean at a rate 10 times more quickly than the last time there was a major collapse of ocean species, 55 million years ago. As a result, the authors write, they have reason to believe that “the next mass extinction may have already begun.”
The next "mass extinction"? <gulp>. Didn't the LAST one wipe EVERYTHING off the face of the earth? (yup) Doesn't that mean that next time....we're included? (yup)
The report's conclusions, that there are accelerating areas of acidification (lower pH), eutrophic/anoxic areas (dead zones - you know why) and rising temperatures (and a single degree makes a large difference) all seem vaguely familiar - as if the same themes were present in last week's climate change report. Oh - they were.
Take a look at the summary of the report here: Summary Report on the State Of The Oceans. I don't expect you to read through the entire 11 or so pages, but skim the first few to get a sense of what it's about, and then I'd like you to read some of the five (5) summaries that begin on page 3. Find a topic of interest; one that you feel something about and write your response in the following format:
- What interested you about this topic
- What you found most provocative, upsetting, concerning or frightening about this topic
- What you would like to see the world do about this topic. (Really.)
Life came from the oceans. Will it end there as well? It's almost too much to process.
