Procrastinator's Guide To Ocean Acidification: You Are The Alien

aliens poster Aliens. Image credit:Fox Movies poster, via WikipediaProcrastinators are remarkably consistent in their addiction to the "strategy" of last-minute response. They cram all night before final exams. Wait to propose marriage until they think they may have seen him/her flirting with another. Don't buy groceries until forced to eat fast food for days on end. The rub is, with climate change, "Mañana," the strategy, doesn't work. There can be no last minute response. Only total expiration. A death-fascinated expiration over a generation or two. Would it grab a procrastinating guy's attention if Sigrourney Weaver wrote about Swimming in a Sea of Acid?

Or if he realized that the carbon bomb has already detonated, predetermining a level of marine acidity unseen for many millions of years?

The backdrop, from a Guardian story, is this: Arctic seas turn to acid, putting vital food chain at risk, With the world's oceans absorbing six million tonnes of carbon a day, a leading oceanographer warns of eco disaster.

Carbon-dioxide emissions are turning the waters of the Arctic Ocean into acid at an unprecedented rate, scientists have discovered. Research carried out in the archipelago of Svalbard has shown in many regions around the north pole seawater is likely to reach corrosive levels within 10 years. The water will then start to dissolve the shells of mussels and other shellfish and cause major disruption to the food chain. By the end of the century, the entire Arctic Ocean will be corrosively acidic.

Let's cram.

More posts on acidification and on Sigourney Weaver.
Why August is the Best Month for the Oceans
Ocean Acidification Conference: Acidity Up 30% Since Industrial Revolution - Producing Toxic Assets For The World