While eco-alarmists would have you believe the oceans have "acidified" to dangerous pH levels, a
paper published in Nature finds that the modern ocean pH of about 8.1-8.2 is actually the
most alkaline the oceans have been over the past 250 million years. During this time corals, phytoplankton, and indeed most of the ocean biomass have evolved. The paper shows a mean pH of about 7.7 over the past 250 million years, whereas the alarmist and frequently incorrect IPCC
predicts ocean pH will drop to 7.88 (~0.2 pH units) under a "business as usual" scenario by 2100.
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| Mean ocean surface pH shown in 2nd graph. Modern ocean pH of 8.1-8.2 is shown at left side of graph, right side of graph is 250 million years ago. pH above 7.0 is alkaline. Top graph shows diversity of various species of phytoplankton. Lower graph shows little change in calcification over the entire period. |
The fact is modern sea life cope perfectly well with pH levels that vary by .4 pH units over a period of less than one year, as shown in this
graph from the Monterey Bay Aquarium of incoming seawater:
That would raise the question whether coral bleaching may not in fact be a symptom of high alkalinity?
ReplyDeleteDon't think I would go that far
ReplyDeleteMost cases of coral bleaching are due to cold or warm spells (weather)
Unless the reefs can be shown to have an environment that is different from the rest of the ocean, this certainly defeats the argument that acidity is causing the bleaching.
ReplyDelete