Potential Oceanic Acidity Tipping Point

Potential global impacts of marine pollution

July  19, 2008

There is a serious potential danger point ahead resulting from our pollution, perhaps a major extinction tipping point for planet earth.

If the acidity continues to increase and is added to pollution linked oxygen depletion and ozone related UV pollution kills the wide variety or even the majority or even the most important of the marine organisms vital to CO2 sequestering, like nanoplankton, zooplankton, calcium carbonate fixing bivalves and phytoplankton, then this will firstly result in a major marine extinction event and because the ocean sink may not absorb any more CO2 or worse, degass, atmospheric levels may skyrocket leading to great danger of mass extinction events in the terrestrial environment. Phytoplankton alone remove 48 billion tons of CO2 annually.

I know the phytoplankton are maxed out right now because iron limits their biomass. The research ladies and gentlemen had better get busy and figure out how much these critters can tolerate and tell us if we can stop worrying or if we better kiss our butts goodbye.

Imagine a lethal transglobal CO2 gas bomb. The Rocky and other limestone mountains around the globe were built by these organisms in their job of CO2 removal and they are vital to life on earth.

We are already witnessing the dying of the coral reefs and vanishing of commercial fisheries in many parts of the worlds oceans and vast unexplained oxygen depleted areas of the sea. I suspect the oxygen depletion is caused by phytoplankton die-offs and organic pollution oxidation. I suspect pollution because Howe Sound on BC's west coast, is a dumping ground for bark detritus, municipal waste and pulp mill effluent and the benthic area is oxygen depleted. The grazers, and aerobic nanoplankton, zooplankton, and all marine animals, cannot live without oxygen. Has armageddon already begun?

Jormawankenobe

© 2008 J. Jyrkkanen