Ocean Acidification

Ocean acidification is a recently confirmed up-and-coming problem that is linked to global climate change. Sometimes referred to as "the other carbon problem," ocean acidification results from the ocean acting as a chemical sink for CO2 in the atmosphere. When the CO2 dissolves into the water, it undergoes a chemical reaction and becomes carbonic acid, and this is argued to be detrimental for any and all organisms in the ocean that create shells or skeletons out of calcium carbonate. Similarly to the increase in carbon in the atmosphere over the past several decades, there has been an increase in carbon in the ocean as well, and the imminent problem acidification poses is the threat of collapsing food chains and ecosystems as corals and other base organisms fail to thrive in an altered environment.

The following articles are examined for their viewpoints on the issue of ocean acidification. Types of media included range from videos, to news articles, to fact sheets and brochures, and are evaluated for scientific balance and logical reasoning.

Monday, July 4, 2011

"Ocean Acidification and Corals"

Opinion piece by "Watts Up" Skeptical blog.

The main point of this author's piece seems to be a protest of the use of the word "acidified" to describe the state or future state of the ocean, as he insists on a literal interpretation of the word. It seems the author is conflicted between asserting that the effects of acidification will be negligible or that it does not exist at all. Further reading seems to show that the author believes CO2 is increasing, but it is not human caused, and will be a net positive for the earth. The author uses historical information (that has no citation) as evidence that acidification will not be a problem today. The author also equivocates the effects of an atomic bomb to that of ocean acidification, stating that if the marine life survived after a bomb it will be fine under conditions of acidification.

The author's viewpoint does not seem balanced, and his reasoning and evidence are weak - submitting to fallacies such as proving one thing and concluding another, as well as the use of red herrings to lead his point around in a non-linear fashion. The use of language was loaded with assumptions, and the writing seemed written for a captive audience of like-minded thinkers.
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