The amount of carbon dioxide being absorbed by the world’s oceans has reduced, according to a new scientific study. University of East Anglia researchers gauged CO2 absorption through more than 90,000 measurements from merchant ships equipped with automatic instruments.
Results of their 10-year study in the North Atlantic show CO2 uptake halved between the mid-90s and 2000 to 2005. Scientists believe global warming might get worse if the oceans soak up less of the greenhouse gas.
Researchers said the findings, published in a paper for the Journal of Geophysical Research, were surprising and worrying because there were grounds for believing that, in time, the ocean might become saturated with our emissions.
I am very troubled about pollution and the degradation of our environment. Global warming is one impending symptom of our abuse of the planet. Lovers of this planet should direct the attention from the hot topic of global warming, towards the causes of global warming. For example driving.
I mention this because, I heard a report on NPR this weekend about a company’s plan to dump Iron into the ocean in order to encourage the growth of Plankton, Carbon consumering ocean dwellers.
The simplified idea of polluting in order to solve an environmental problem is an idea that could be sold to the people who bought the Iraq war. However, study of the issue reveals that plankton release methane, a more severe cause of global warming. Yes, like all other creatures, Plankton don’t simply consume they excrete. This proposal just goes to show that the greatest hazard to the health of this planet will be attempts at fixing the problem by creating a bigger one.
“The best way to get out of a whole, is to stop digging”