The Vicious Cycle of Ocean Acidification

In many cases, the challenges of sustainability are made more difficult by various vicious cycles, where certain bad phenomena feed on themselves and thus enter a pattern of ever-increasing acceleration.  A good example of this effect is ocean acidification, which we’ve discussed at length elsewhere, in which:

• Increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere form carbonic acid in the oceans, lowering their pH
• This makes it hard for an entire range of primitive sea organisms to form their calcium-based shells
• Since these organisms are responsible for most of the natural carbon sequestration (by forming calcium carbonate that is eventually subducted deep into the belly of the Earth), their decline means more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Also, since these organisms form the bottom of the food chain for all aquatic animals, an even more terrible consequence of their destruction is the loss of the animal protein in the human diet that comes from fish and seafood (about 25% of the total).