The Acid Ocean
Its hot and getting hotter
At point one degree a year
As we fill our air with carbon
Despite the warnings we should hear
The heating of our planet
Is becoming very clear
With inevitable catastrophe
Looming very near
The increase in ocean carbon
At one millionth part per year
Is turning seas to acid
And is something we should fear
With our coral and our seashells
And the beaches we hold dear
And our fish and other seafood
To shortly disappear
In my lifetime I have experienced a one third increase in
global carbon dioxide levels to their current level of 426 ppm. This has driven an increase in global
temperatures of 0.12 oC/year since 1950 and a 1ppm a year increase
in dissolved carbon in surface ocean waters.
This in turn has decreased the average pH by about 0.1 units since the
pre-industrial era. This corresponds to a roughly 30% increase in ocean acidity
at a rate of change significantly faster than any previous changes in ocean
chemistry over the last 50 million years. This decrease in oceanic pH makes is
making it difficult for corals and other organisms relying on caclium carbonate
such as seashells to lay down their skeletons. It is horrifying to imagine a
return to the ancient fishless acid oceans inhabited by nothing but jellyfish. And its already starting to happen (https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/a-monoculture-of-jellyfish-threatens-the-oceans-as-we-know-them-insider/,
refer above).
Despite the increasingly obvious impact of climate change we are beset by denialisim and misinformation. Those that point out the increasing droughts, floods, fires and cyclones are viewed as “alarmists”. Those that try to bring attention to the climate change driven famine and civil war in Africa and the worldlwide collapse in biodiversity are ignored. Its really not our problem. Why should we care? We are driven by selfishness and greed while being reassured by conservative right winged media and politicians that all is well. It is easy to despair. Who will lead us now that America is lost? Are we really The Hollow Men of TS Elliot waiting for our wonderful world to end in a whimper? We are far down the road of no return but we do have the tools and technology if not the collective will to take another road. We need strong and collective leadership but all of us can make a difference. I believe that the following approaches will be highly effective.
· National sign up to binding international carbon targets
· Make good choices with respect to our own carbon footprint.
· Harshly punish peddlers of climate misinformation including removal of licences, large fines and gaol time for the CEOs.
· Strict controls on misinformation peddled on social media which can be easily done with AI with maybe an automatic popup. “This information is not supported by known facts” or maybe just “This is a lie.” Won’t the influencers love this?
· Elect ethical people with polices of fairness, compassion and equality to enact sustainable Polices.
· Introduce a carbon tax which will be shrilly opposed by the selfish. This in combination with carbon trading, free trade and a calculated carbon levy on all imports to secure a level playing field will be a strong driver to reduce global carbon emissions.
· A large proportion of GDP (maybe 5% compared to the current 2.6% in Australia) to be invested in research and development.
Is it coincidence that all of the above are the exact
opposite path to the one currently being followed by the once great United
States of America? Much of this will be
unpopular but while we have already run out of time to completely avert
catastrophe we can prevent it getting worse and our immediate priority is combatting
misinformation and populism.
