Jun 10 2009
It’s Not a Pretty Picture
The news coming out of Washington , USA, doesn’t look good: The ocean is sick. The shrimps are leaving town because there isn’t enough O2 to pass around. Oysters are not having babies in four years for the same reason. What’s worse, life-saving medicines derived from fungus on seaweed and bacteria in the deep sea may be in jeopardy.
The state of the ocean is getting the researchers, scientists, and even Jacques Cousteau’s granddaughter worried. It’s not a pretty picture they’re painting for the future of the US coastal states. What’s going on? Apparently, global warming is the culprit. It’s causing changes in oceans around the world.
Ocean acidification or diseases that thrive in acidified, oxygen-depleted seawater could be responsible for oysters not reproducing in Washington state, said Brad Warren , who oversees the ocean health and acidification program of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership in Seattle .
Federal studies also found acidity levels in the North Pacific and off Alaska are unusually high compared to other ocean regions. The high acidity is already taking a toll of such tiny species as pteropods, which are an important food for salmon and other fish.
It’s definitely not a pretty picture. The way we’re going right now, things won’t change and damage to the oceans will continue.
As greenhouse gas emissions increase, billions of tons of carbon dioxide from smokestacks and vehicle tailpipes are absorbed by the oceans. The result is carbonic acid, which dilutes the “rich soup” of calcium carbonate in the seawater that many species, especially on the low end of the food chain, thrive in…”
Runoffs from farms are also causing dead zones in the oceans. These are areas where marine life cannot survive. Imagine a room of toxic gas. That is what dead zones are like in the oceans. That is also one of the reasons why you find whales and other sea mammals heading for shores and ended up dying there. They were trying to get away from the toxic sea.
The evidences are plenty. It saddens me that there are some of us who still think all this a hoax or that we’re alarmists. Even in the most unlikely event that it is so, I still think precautionary measures are needed. We pay through our noses for all sorts of insurance - cars, house, health, and who knows what else - why not do the same for our planet? If our planet goes, everyone goes. So why not take the steps to prevent it before it is too late?
The solutions are there. We can recycle, drive less, carpool, use and develop more sustainable energy, and cut down on our meat consumption or just be veg. And pray. It’s not a pretty picture right now, but we still have a little time to change that. If you have never gambled before, or an addicted gambler, this is the time to do it, the reason to do it, after all, the life as we know it is at stake here.
