"Only by reducing our CO2 emissions and enhancing the protection of oceans to strengthen their ability to recover, can we effectively address this issue." [from article pasted below]
Haven't these guys heard of CDR, and no, there will be zero ability for many marine species to recover once fatal pH and carbonate saturation state tolerances are crossed. Betting on CO2 emissions reductions to keep us from this threshold appears increasingly dubious (despite all of our concerns, we set a record for CO2 emissions increase last year). Thus, we need to seriously consider/fund research on enhanced, post-emission CO2 removal from air, especially enhancing weathering reactions that can convert air CO2 to ocean alkalinity, doubly helping avoid/correct the damage being done to ocean chemistry and biology. If we are truly concerned about the fate of the ocean, why isn't the preceding being advocated by our representatives in high profile meetings setting global CO2 management and R&D policy? -Greg Greg H. Rau, Ph.D. Senior Research Scientist Institute of Marine Sciences University of California, Santa Cruz (off-campus) L-103 Carbon Management Program LLNL 7000 East Ave Livermore, CA 94550 Tel 925 423 7990 Cell 510 363 1519 r...@llnl.gov http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/286677 WARNING OVER OCEAN ACIDITY LEVELS Geoengineering solutions to climate change cannot stop the increasing acidity of the oceans, conserv Large scale "geoengineering" solutions to climate change will not reverse rising acidity in the oceans which damages marine life, conservationists have warned. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) issued a call at the UN climate talks in Durban for countries to urgently address the issue of ocean acidification, caused by greater levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The oceans absorb around a quarter of the carbon dioxide humans put into the atmosphere each year, the IUCN said, but the gas dissolving into the seas causes the water to become more acidic. The IUCN said the acidity of the world's oceans had increased by 30% since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and could continue at an unprecedented rate in the coming decades. But while ocean acidification has the same cause as climate change - increasing amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere - not all the solutions for global warming will help the situation faced by the seas, the International Ocean Acidification Reference User Group warned. Efforts to reflect the sun's rays, through putting aerosols or even mirrors into the atmosphere, will not reduce levels of CO2 or protect the oceans. Dr John Baxter, of Scottish Natural Heritage and deputy chairman of the Reference User Group which supports work in a number of regions and countries including the UK, said: "Geoengineering solutions, such as reflecting solar radiation, which are often suggested to deal with climate change, will not address the progressive acidification of the ocean. "Both climate change and acidification need to be taken into account when designing solutions to these challenges." And Professor Dan Laffoley, marine vice chairman of the IUCN's world commission on protected areas and chairman of the Reference User Group, said: "The increasing amounts of carbon dioxide that we emit into the atmosphere every day are changing our oceans, steadily increasing their acidity and dramatically affecting marine life. Only by reducing our CO2 emissions and enhancing the protection of oceans to strengthen their ability to recover, can we effectively address this issue." He urged negotiators and ministers in Durban and at next summer's environmental summit in Rio de Janeiro to mark 20 years since the original Earth Summit in Brazil to acknowledge the problem and take appropriate action to tackle it. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To post to this group, send email to geoengineering@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to geoengineering+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en.
