As we predicted the other day… Finding deaf Nemos: Clownfish are growing up with impaired hearing ’caused by fossil fuel emissions’. But if baby clownfish were so sensitive to slight changes in their environment, there would be no clownfsh — imagine the relatively dramatic changes in their environment during storms that they survive.
Here’s the media release.
Here are some additional ocean acidification resources:
- Ocean Acidification (Seafriends.org.nz)
- Ocean Acidification… Another Nail in a Junk Science Coffin, (Debunk House)
- Ocean Acidification (CO2 Science)
co2science has a section on ocean acidification here too: http://www.co2science.org/subject/o/subject_o.php
Oceanis pH varies around the world. The ‘most acidic’ regions are in the tropics on the western (lee) margins of the land masses. This is precisely where continental dust carried by the ‘trade winds’ would be deposited.
http://www.seafriends.org.nz/oceano/seawater.htm
Even so, the pH is no less than 7.3 – mildy alkaline (the opposite of acidic). The vast majority of the ocean has a pH of greater than 8.0 – noticeably alkaline. Under these conditions CO2 absorbed from the atmosphere appears predominantly as bicarbonate ion – an essential nutrient for mulloscs and coral which they to build everything from limestone shells to coral reefs. The bicarbonate also serves as a buffer – stabilizing the pH against small changes by neutralizing both acids and bases. This is elementary chemistry, and easily demonstrated in any school chemistry lab, without any of the ‘hand -waving’ that accompanies ‘demonstrations’ of the ‘greenhouse effect.’
‘Nemo’ is latin and means ‘nobody’.
The story reminds me of acid rain. Remember: back in the eighties when our cars had no catalysators yet, and our gasoline was leaded. This time it’s acid ocean.