‘Sea Change: The Pacific’s Perilous Turn’ (Seattle Times)

Abstract Seattle Times – A MUST READ

Story by Craig Welch

Article photographs by Steve Ringman

“Ocean acidification, the lesser-known twin of climate change, threatens to scramble marine life on a scale almost too big to fathom.”

http://apps.seattletimes.com/reports/sea-change/2013/sep/11/pacific-ocean-perilous-turn-overview/

“‘High rates of extinction’ to come?

Imagine every person on Earth tossing a hunk of CO₂ as heavy as a bowling ball into the sea. That’s what we do to the oceans every day.

Burning fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas, belches carbon dioxide into the air. But a quarter of that CO₂ then gets absorbed by the seas — eight pounds per person per day, about 20 trillion pounds a year.

Scientists once considered that entirely good news, since it removed CO₂ from the sky. Some even proposed piping more emissions to the sea.

But all that CO₂ is changing the chemistry of the ocean faster than at any time in human history. Now the phenomenon known as ocean acidification — the lesser-known twin of climate change — is helping push the seas toward a great unraveling that threatens to scramble marine life on a scale almost too big to fathom, and far faster than first expected.

Here’s why: ”  http://apps.seattletimes.com/reports/sea-change/2013/sep/11/pacific-ocean-perilous-turn-overview/  MORE .  .  .  A truly excellent analysis with striking supporting video clips