rod mclaughlin

You can't make it up XCXIV - if the warming don't get you, the acid will (27 nov 17)

A reader sent me a link: The Oceans Are Getting More Acidic. This is my reply:

I invite you to look at two graphs in this article

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide_in_Earth%27s_atmosphere

The first one, Carbon Dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide_in_Earth%27s_atmosphere#/media/File:Carbon_Dioxide_400kyr.png

looks scary. It shows the current era having a much higher rise in CO2 than any time in the last 400,000 years.

But the second graph, Phanerozoic Carbon Dioxide, takes the long view

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide_in_Earth%27s_atmosphere#/media/File:Phanerozoic_Carbon_Dioxide.png

As you can see, over 542 million years, CO2 has been mostly declining in concentration. The current upsurge is a mere blip, as is current warming. In the middle of that period, 252 million years ago, was the great Permian Triassic extinction. It might have had something to do with ocean acidification, but it can't have had anything to do with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Portland

London