Re:A $900B Oil Treasure Lies Beneath West Texas Desert
by xapata on Sunday November 20, 2016 @12:39PM
(#12999993)
As the oceans absorb CO2, the acidity increases. Not so great for our preferred fish species.
Re:A $900B Oil Treasure Lies Beneath West Texas Desert
by eru on Wednesday November 23, 2016 @03:07AM
(#13020981)
The acidity of the surface layer increases right now. And that's a big problem.
The mixing I was talking about will take a few thousand years, and I am not sure there's enough air to make a dent in the whole ocean's depths' pH level.
Re:A $900B Oil Treasure Lies Beneath West Texas Desert
by BurningFrog on Sunday November 20, 2016 @12:44PM
(#13000018)
Probably true, but the fact that we eat all those fish is a far bigger short term problem.
I heard somewhere (rumor alert) that jellyfish and other species we don't like to eat are taking over much of the oceans, since we ate most of the fish.
Re:A $900B Oil Treasure Lies Beneath West Texas Desert
by giardini on Sunday November 20, 2016 @01:27PM
(#13000259)
Open a small business harvesting jellyfish. It is already a growth market in Asia and will be a growth market for the next 50 years in many parts of the USA:
"Southern Fishermen Cash In On Asia's Taste For Jellyfish":
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/01/28/267836803/sou...
"Jelly Balls Harvested by Boone Seafood Darien Georgia":
Re:A $900B Oil Treasure Lies Beneath West Texas Desert
by xapata on Sunday November 20, 2016 @03:31PM
(#13001005)
It's not just because of fishery collapse. The changing temperature and pH matters, too. Reefs bleaching and all that.
I wouldn't say it's a rumor. Just a possibility as reported by some researchers. Not a consensus, as far as I know, though there was a book about it summarizing the research.
That period lasted millions of years. All the CO2 we are blasting into the atmosphere will be absorbed by the oceans in thousands (or at most ten thousands) of years.
(It's taking a while, because the surface layers of the oceans can only absorb so much, and mixing into the deeper layers takes time.)