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Several studies about the effect of increased carbon dioxide buildup in the oceans have been published showing the ocean chemistry is changing and the resultant effects on ocean life is unfolding as modeled. Scientists had predicted that as the oceans absorbed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the normally quite alkaline ocean would grow increasingly acidic because when carbon dioxide is absorbed by the oceans, it is transformed into carbonic acid. This process is known as the acidification of the oceans. One of the direct consequences of the absorption of the 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year is the loss of the calcium carbonate in the sea. The transformation of carbon dioxide into carbonic acid is in effect stealing the carbon atoms needed to make calcium carbonate, and it is this substance that shelled creatures need to build their shells. Thus, one of the consequences of absorbing tons of carbon dioxide in the ocean is the potential extinction of the shelled creatures and all the other marine life that depends on those creatures. Scientists believe that the ocean chemistry is changing to be more like the primordial soup that once covered the world and that the marine life that will benefit most are the jelly fish. They also think that the increased jelly fish blooms found throughout the world's oceans are related to global warming and the acidification of the seas.
The disappearing Arctic ice was one story that was widely covered as scientists are predicting that the Arctic could be ice-free during the summer by the year 2040. During the last week of December, this prediction became even more credible as it was reported that a gigantic ice shelf had broken off the main Arctic ice shield and is now a huge ice island the size of Manhattan floating free. In fact, the Arctic ice shelves are 90% smaller than they were 100 years ago. The shrinking Arctic ice has directly threatened the Polar bears with extinction. By the end of the year, the Dirk Kempthorne, head of Bush's Interior Department, has recommended putting the bears on the threatened species list which will require the government to put together a recovery plan that could mitigate the threat to the Polar bears. As the major threat to their habitat is global warming, this could lead to our government taking some positive actions to slow our carbon emissions.
Studies about the melting permafrost in Siberia also made the news. It seems that as the Siberian permafrost melts, methane gas is being released into the atmosphere from the large lakes formed in the permafrost. This is particularly worrying as methane gas is an even more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide (up to 23 times worse). The amount of carbon trapped in the Siberian permafrost is enormous - easily double the amount of carbon that has already been emitted into the atmosphere by human activities. If that much carbon is released rapidly through the release of methane gas, it means that even if we humans totally cut back on our carbon emissions, the system would be overwhelmed with the carbon being released by the permafrost.
2006 will be known as the year that global warming can no longer be considered an alarmist hoax. Today we can see the signs of global warming everywhere. And we finally understand we need to act rapidly if we are to have any control over the future. Let's make 2007 the year we actively address our greenhouse gas emissions in our daily lives and the year we finally force our governments to pay sufficient attention to the problem.
To follow up on these stories, you can find further information about several of the topics I discussed in this piece here:
Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, http://www.climatecrisis.net/
James Hansen, The Threat to the World, New York Review of Books, July 13, 2006, http://www.nybooks.com/articles/19131
Elizabeth Kolbert, The Darkening Sea, The New Yorker, November 20, 2006, http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/061120fa_fact3
Bill McKibben, How Close to Catastrophe, New York Review of Books, November 16, 2006, http://www.nybooks.com/articles/19596
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