Can’t save climate by killing oceans

As I read The Washington Post article in a recent Herald about adding an antacid to the oceans as a means to reduce carbon in the atmosphere, I became disturbed as to how wildly uninformed the media and, of course, the general population is on this subject.

This article makes no mention of the effect of ocean acidification on ecosystems. In her book, “The Sixth Extinction,” Elizabeth Kolbert explains that as the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide because of its alkalinity, the resultant pH lowering could cause the extinction of all shellfish within 50 years or earlier if nothing is done. This article suggests that adding vast amounts of alkaline rocks and debris into the ocean could possibly allow the absorption of billions of metric tons of carbon dioxide per year if scaled hugely. But not one word was said of the impending ecological emergency.

The coral reefs are dying. We all know that. But it seems that few know why. The why is carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. And the higher temperatures are not the main cause. The main threat to our ocean’s health is acidification which scientists consider to be as big a threat to our ecosystems as global warming. But, as usual, even someone reading legitimate news providers like the Washington Post have a difficult time learning the necessary information to be a good citizen of Earth in the modern era.

We live in an era of willful ignorance, apathy, hedonism and shoddy journalism.

Rick Walker

Snohomish