Satellite animation of ocean acidification
You would have to be a masochist to enjoy watching the animation above. It's a deeply depressing view of the actual progress of ocean
acidification as it rapidly takes hold to destroy what was once a thriving, vital ecosystem.
Scientists from the US, EU and India have created a satellite capable of monitoring ocean acidification in real time. Scientists had been relying on ship, buoys, floats and lab tests which have resulted in major gaps in coverage. Their new method of satellite monitoring has been published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology and the animation above is the result of the satellites real time images.
I recently wrote about how the oceans are absorbing over 90% of the earth's warming Quick, go visit the ocean one last time before it dies
Oceans are taking in about 90 percent of the excess heat created by human greenhouse gas emissions, but they’re also absorbing some of the carbon dioxide (CO2) itself. According to the European Space Agency, about a quarter of all human CO2 emissions are being taken in by the world’s oceans.
A complex set of chemical processes dissolves that CO2 and turns it into carbonic acid, which dissolves shells and coral, creating a cascade effect that could disrupt entire marine ecosystems. The current rate at which oceans are acidifying has been unseen in 300 million years and the consequences could be costly.
[...]
The new monitoring techniques can help monitor hot spots such as the Bay of Bengal, the Arctic Ocean and the Caribbean, three places where ocean acidification could have major economic impacts but where little research has been done.
In my linked article
above I wrote about the warning of a major Coral bleaching as early as 2015. The chart above shows a 60% probability of that occurring this year.
[...] it will take major action to reverse climate change to save the globe's coral reefs. Currently, carbon dioxide makes up nearly 400 parts per million of the atmosphere, and for coral to thrive, we'll need to throttle that back to 350 ppm or possibly even 320 ppm, he said. Those are ambitious goals. Making coral resilient enough to survive until we can manage to do that, he added, will require taking action against "local stressors" that also harm them, like overfishing and pollution.
"People say corals are the rainforests of the sea. But coral reefs are more biodiverse than rainforests," he said. "It ought to be the other way around: Rainforests are the coral reefs of the land." And these glorious cradles of oceanic life aren't getting any stronger. "The punch that knocks a boxer out in the ninth round doesn't have to be as hard as the punch that would knock him out in round one," Eakin said.
It would be difficult to over emphasize the seriousness of the condition of our oceans. If negative ocean events continue to spiral we will find out soon enough how much of the damage is irreversible.