Science confirms the buildup of carbon based pollutants in our atmosphere, as expanding human (carbon burning technologies) and natural sources continue their outputs. Science also offers us a scale to measure the amounts of carbon (and other climate changing chemicals) being produced against Earth’s historical levels through multiple evolutions of flora and fauna. One of Earth’s effective remedies for seeking balance of this excessive carbon buildup is the process of our ocean absorbing and then storing some of this excess carbon pollution. After a simple chemical process, the ocean’s uptake of this excess carbon in our atmosphere results in an increasing acidification of our ocean. This is a simple, single, variable data point, critical to our ocean’s balance and health. This verified and measurable pH change effects the ocean’s chemistry and biology, and has turned the ocean’s buffering effect on climate change into a major and critical variable in our human-related alteration of planet Earth.
Films
Acid Test: The Global Challenge of Ocean Acidification
Film 2009, 22 minutes, by Tristan Bayer, Daniel Hinerfeld.
A documentary discussion by leading scientists on the acidification of the world’s oceans caused by the excess carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels stored in the atmosphere. This measurable pH change effects the oceans chemistry and biology, and has turned the ocean’s buffering effect on climate change into a critical major variable in our human related alteration of planet Earth.
Planet Ocean
Film, 2012, by Yann Arthus-Bertrand & Michael Pitiot.
A beautiful underwater 90 minute documentary about ocean organisms’ relationship with the effects of humans.
Articles
Ocean Acidification
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2020.
A simple, direct, illustrated four page summary for the lay person on the fundamental science and ocean effects of acidification on our ocean.
Ocean Acidification: What Is It?
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is one of our premier ocean research organizations, and is particularly relevant for our view on the Gulf of Maine. This general discussion summary adds chemical process layers, reviews the historical state of the ocean’s pH levels, and introduces some of the direct impacts on our fisheries.
"Scientific models show that in just a few decades, we will significantly alter the ocean’s chemistry. Such conditions haven’t existed since the extinction of the dinosaurs." From Acid Test: The Global Challenge of Ocean Acidification.