If the ocean was sterilized, then presumably there wouldn't be any marine microbes to consume O2 or generate H2S, CH4, etc. Good final exam written question for Biogeochemistry 476 - what would happen to the earth?
As for McNuggets, some Asia countries get 40% of their protein from the ocean. I'd buy stock in KFC. Greg Sent from my iPad On Jun 8, 2013, at 2:25 AM, Andrew Lockley <[email protected]> wrote: > For a start, oceans provide 12% of the global food supply. Losing all that > could be the tipping point on its own, as a starving society unravels into a > vicious circle of conflict, de-industrialisation and de-urbanisation. > However, a far more serious concern is the change in the oceans which would > lead to them becoming sterilised. Likely, an ocean anoxic event is the > precursor event. > > As I understand it, the Great Dying (P-T extinction) provides an analogue. > Anoxic oceans were linked with a mass extinction of land biodiversity. I > understand that a proposed mechanism for this is the creation of an > atmosphere laden with H2S and lacking a functioning ozone layer. > > That's wouldn't be promising for the Chicken McNugget supply. > > A > On Jun 8, 2013 10:01 AM, "Ken Caldeira" <[email protected]> wrote: >> Andrew, >> >> Please respond to what I said and not what you imagine I said. >> >> The issue has to do with a hypothetical case of sterilization of the oceans. >> There was no reference to climate change in my statement. >> >> I challenge anyone to construct a plausible causal chain that would lead >> from sterilization of the oceans to downfall of human civilization. >> >> This is not an expression of my values, this is an expression of my >> scientific understanding. >> >> Let all realize that I spend a large chunk of my time trying to investigate >> and protect human threats to ocean ecosystems. >> >> This Scientist Aims High to Save the World's Coral Reefs >> http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=176344300&m=178462367 >> (Aired Monday, 4/22 on NPR's All Things Considered; 7 minutes, 49 seconds) >> >> Best, >> >> Ken >> >> On Saturday, June 8, 2013, Andrew Lockley wrote: >>> In my view, history provides the best guide to the future. >>> >>> Civilisations are not long lived at the best of times, and their messy and >>> painful demise is usually accompanied by minor climate disruption. >>> >>> The more complex the civilisation, the less robust it is, as there is a >>> greater interconnectedness, and hence a greater ability to transmit shocks >>> through the system. To further explain : our ancestors would not have heard >>> about an antipodean earthquake, whereas now such a tremor can send markets >>> into meltdown in minutes. >>> >>> The idea that despite this much more vulnerable society, the American >>> middle class will survive the worst climate change in human history without >>> disruption to the Chicken McNugget supply, or to the ability of Hollywood >>> to produce Game of Thrones, is completely bizarre. >>> >>> Someone, somewhere will likely be eating a piece of battered chicken meat. >>> Someone, somewhere will probably still have a working digital camera and >>> some kind of transmission equipment . This does not equate to an >>> uninterrupted experience for the US middle class. >>> >>> A >>> On Jun 8, 2013 8:42 AM, "Emily L-B" <[email protected]> wrote: >>> Hi all, I'd propose you put this hypothesis to Dan Laffolley (you can >>> google him). >>> There are so many responses to this I am overwhelmed and can't respond >>> coherently. Apart from anything else, my understanding is that decay of >>> ocean matter would release noxious gases. So while there may be O2, it may >>> be polluted. >>> Best wishes, >>> Emily. >>> Sent from my BlackBerry >>> From: Ken Caldeira <[email protected]> >>> Sender: [email protected] >>> Date: Sat, 8 Jun 2013 15:05:06 +0800 >>> To: [email protected]<[email protected]> >>> ReplyTo: [email protected] >>> Cc: [email protected]<[email protected]> >>> Subject: [geo] The Caldeira "If you Sterilize the Ocean We'd Still Have >>> Chicken McNuggets Hypothesis" questioned by Ocean expert >>> >>> David, >>> >>> The residence time of oxygen in the atmosphere + ocean + biosphere with >>> respect to the lithosphere is millions of years. >>> >>> There are about 4 x 10 ** 19 mol of O2 in the atmosphere. The rate of >>> removal of this O2 by organic carbon weathering is about 4 x 10 ** 12 mol >>> per year. I am not sure about pyrite oxidation and so on but you can check >>> out the attached paper for an entree into the literature. >>> >>> In any case, the 1000 year number you cite is not based on any reliable >>> literature value. A better guess might be that we would have breathable >>> oxygen on the order of a million years if you eliminated all life on land >>> and sea. If life were eliminated in the oceans only, I don't know of >>> anything that would impede our ability to eat Chicken McNuggets and watch >>> TV indefinitely. >>> >>> Let me make it clear that I value life in the oceans quite highly and do >>> not at all like Chicken McNuggets. (For some reason, nutters on the web >>> think that you can't discuss anything unless you are advocating actually >>> doing it.) >>> >>> Best, >>> >>> Ken >>> >>> On Saturday, June 8, 2013, David Lewis wrote: >>> During the Q&A after his 2012 AGU talk entitled "Ocean Acidification: >>> Adaptive Challenge or Extinction Threat?", Ken Caldeira said: "I actually >>> think if you sterilize the ocean, yes vulnerable people would be hurt, poor >>> people would be hurt, but that we'd still have Chicken McNuggets and TV >>> shows and basically we'd be OK " A video of Ken's entire talk is available >>> here. He lays out the McNugget/Ocean Sterilization hypothesis starting at >>> minute 50:20. >>> >>> This seemed to be Ken's answer to the question he posed in his subtitle, >>> i.e. is homo sapiens facing a threat of extinction as a result of any >>> particular odd behavior the species is engaged in at the moment such as >>> carelessly dumping waste gases into the atmosphere which are changing the >>> chemistry of the global ocean? >>> >>> Callum Roberts, a scientist who studies the impact of human activity on >>> marine ecosystems, addressed an audience at the University of Sydney this >>> year where he discussed the many problems human activity is causing life in >>> the oceans. He interrupted his litany of woe briefly to tell the audience >>> of some "good news" he had: "even if all the ocean's primary productivity >>> were shot down tomorrow, it will still be a long time before we suffocate >>> because there's plenty of oxygen in the atmosphere, enough for more than >>> 1,000 years. So hopefully we can get our heads aro >> >> >> -- >> _______________ >> Ken Caldeira >> >> Carnegie Institution for Science >> Dept of Global Ecology >> 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA 94305 USA >> +1 650 704 7212 [email protected] >> http://dge.stanford.edu/labs/caldeiralab @kencaldeira >> >> Caldeira Lab is hiring postdoctoral researchers. >> http://dge.stanford.edu/labs/caldeiralab/Caldeira_employment.html >> >> Check out the profile of me on NPR's All Things Considered >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "geoengineering" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
