Ocean creatures that make calcium carbonate shell constitute one of the "negative feedback loops" in the carbon cycle. It was their work that made the planet livable by building the carbon in the excess CO2 into limestone, draining the gas from the atmosphere and depositing it on the sea bottom. This is the source of the limestone we mine for making cement, and when you go to a place like Washington, DC, it is what the buildings and memorials are made of--the shells of sea creatures from hundreds of millions of years ago. Now we are putting CO2 into the ocean so quickly that shell cannot be made fast enough to keep up. Instead of being turned into calcium carbonate, industrial CO2 becomes carbonic acid in the oceans. The acid has now built up to the point where shell dissolves as fast as it is made. As a result, no carbonate is being deposited on the ocean bottoms… (wTp)
Posted on: Sun, 01 Sep 2013 21:18:02 +0000
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