eKos: Acidifying Oceans Endanger Web of Life

by FishOutofWater

Oceans acidifying at the highest rate since the last great mass extinction 65 million years ago, threaten marine life, coral reefs and nutrition for over a billion people according to a report (PDF)just released by the UN. Fossil fuel burning, cement production, deforestation and land use changes have increased atmospheric CO2 from 280 to 390 PPMs. Increasing atmospheric CO2 has dissolved in the oceans, increasing the acidity (decreasing the pH) by 30%. Increasing acidity is destabilizing shells and corals, threatening the web of life in the ocean.

Recent studies of a Mediterranean vent in shallow waters revealed key ecosystem changes in high CO2 areas compared to normal CO2 areas. Certain algae and seagrasses were found to grow more efficiently closer to the vents where there was also a large reduction in biodiversity, notably a loss of calcifying organisms adjacent to the vents where the pH was lowest.

continued at Daily Kos....

Humans Destroying Major Food Source: Fish

by Steven D

This isn't a story about BP's oil gusher in the Gulf, though God knows when all is said and done if the "moderate impact" of that catastrophe may very well mean the end to much of the edible marine life, including shrimp and fish stocks, in the Gulf of Mexico for decades to come. No, bad as the BPocalypse may be, that's not the main reason for this story.  You see, human activity, from pollution and overfishing, has been rapidly depleting fish stocks around the world and destroying the fragile ecosystems of the world's oceans.   (Also at Booman Tribune)

continued at Daily Kos....