AGW skeptics...?

Question

Do you deny ocean acidification? Read this article:

http://www.esf.org/research-areas/life-earth-and-environmental-sciences/news/ext-news-singleview/article/ocean-acidification-another-undesired-side-effect-of-fossil-fuel-burning-439.html

Do you think this is a good enough reason to cut our addiction to oil?

Answer 1

Ocean acidification has nothing to do with AGW except that it's being set up to supplant it as the new looming apocalypse. It's just another sign that the AGW ride is coming to an end.

BTW, this one doesn't sound nearly as exciting. Where are all the submerged cities and mega-hurricanes?

Answer 2

I think ocean acidifcation is something that regulators should be concerned about.  We should be minimising our impact on the environment.  

Environmentalism seems to be more about emotion than science and it would be unscientific to claim that it is definately having serious consequences.  The ocean is net alkanine and is believed to have moved 0.1 closer towards neutral PH over the last 200 years.  For all the retoric, nobody has been able to demonstrate that this is haveing observable consequences.

If nobody mentions ocean acidification, AGW alarmists assert that the oceans are approaching saturation and can't absorb much more CO2.

And if you think renewables are a cheap alternative to fossile fuels, you are mistaken.  Fossile fuels have extensive taxes, renewables have extensive subsudies and they are still not compeditive.

Answer 3

Yes-- but none of them have anything to do with GW. Most are economic and political reasons.

Answer 4

Gasoline is over $4 because of the weak dollar.

Congress and the President need to cut their addiction to spending money that doesn't exist, and the Fed needs to stop enabling them by printing more money.

Answer 5

"Do you deny ocean acidification?"

Uhh, no.

"The thing is that this can be tested in controlled aquariums...it's a lot easier to test than the climate."

Sort of.

Answer 6

I believe that the average person in America, if given the choice between making 50% of all species on earth extinct or lowering gas prices to $1/gallon, would choose lowering gas prices.

Answer 7

What is really needed is for everybody to get behind real functional and practical solutions that can and will work. We need first of all to remove that stupid presidential order of Jimmy Carter’s that prevents the recycling of nuclear materials just like every other country in the world has done. Next we need to go on a crash construction program of building new nuclear power plants and upgrading old ones just like every other nation in the world has done except for China.

Then we need to get going on space based solar generation for the long term future needs of the planet. I hear a lot of the AGW people yakking about how terrible everything is and how the sky is going to fall and kill us, nut I have never heard a single practical and useful step of fixing the problems from them, just moaning and groaning about how terrible it is. Get on all the politicians from school board members on up about real action or you are voting for someone who will really do something about these realistic solutions.

Answer 8

Ocean acidification is one of many reasons besides global warming that we need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.  Increased atmospheric CO2 is changing the pH of the oceans which is bleaching coral reefs, which are the habitat of millions of aquatic species.  Killing coral reefs will have serious impacts on marine ecosystems, and consequently on humans as well.

Then there's the fact that most oil is concentrated under politically unstable countries (national security), the fact that burning oil has other negative emissions besides CO2 (public health), the fact that oil is a limited resource with increasing demand (gas prices have nowhere to go but up), etc. etc.

There are so many reasons to end our addiction to oil and cut our greenhouse gas emissions.  Ocean acidification is a very good one.

Answer 9

Yes - It's time to get off of oil and use clean nuclear power.

Green house gas emissions could be cut 50% just by replacing coal and gas electric turbines with nuclear reactors.

Answer 10

Taking a scientific approach, I researched several scientific databases. After reading the NASA data where they talk about how the surface temperature of all nine planets in the solar system is rising in direct relationship to their distance from the sun (except Jupiter which is also warming from it's own internal heat), and how they measured that - I don't worry about global warming anymore.

I can't change the heat output of the sun nor the solar cycles, nor can I change the surface temperatures of the other planets. These things are simply beyond my power to even influence.

Thank you Joe for your e-mail asking for a more specific answer. I will attempt to do so. Concerning your question "Do you deny ocean acidification"; Joe, I haven't heard a question like that in a long time.

The last time it was a Catholic priest years ago who asked me if I denied the teachings of the Catholic Church were correct in all things? My answer, after much thought, was yes - which is why I'm not a Catholic. So, now here you come along asking me if I deny your religion with "Do I deny Anthropogenic Global Warming"..."Do I deny Ocean Acidification"? And my answer is...yes. I simply do not have your faith nor religious ferver in your religion of AGW. Do I think we should make changes to a multi billion dollar industry that drives 60% of our nation's economy because a newspaper article says some oceanographers are beginning a couple of research programs? No.

My view:

It seems the Test of the Scientific Method (observe, theorize, test, repeat) is being abandoned by some sections of the modern "scientific" community (to pursue political favor and grant money? <mock horror>). Joe, you showed me a news article then asked me if I believe. NO, of course not. I'm a scientist. I don't "believe" anything - not even my own data. As a scientist, I observe, then think, then observe some more, then think some more. I never "believe". When I think I understand something, I bounce it off of a few of my buddies. When they say they can't find anythingwrong with it, then I work with it until someone comes up with something better. That is how science is supposed to work. If you're not doing that, you're not doing science.

What should we do about ocean acidification?

Folks who love studying the ocean think they may have observed a problem. We should marshal our oceanographers to look at it - to see if it's a problem. I see the United States and the Europearn Union are both launching such efforts. Great! Now we wait to see what they will learn.

What we should not do is run around screaming the sky is falling, or in your case, the ocean is dying. We are only BEGINNING to look at this. Scientists - real scientists - require time to study something. We must allow them that time. Issuing unquestionable "Pronouncements" of "catostraphic effects of ocean acidification" and belittling others who don't accept your fear is irresponsible at best, and may be dangerous if we make political decisions without understanding what is happening. This is the very mistake the AGW politics is doing.

From what I've read (I am not an oceanographer), it seems we might want to look into this. That's it. There is no way anyone can say this is anthropogenic. Joe, you are scaring people with your hysteria. Knock it off. Grow up. I say the same thing to the AGW folks.

There is some evidence ocean acidification and global warming is happening. There is NO evidence either is anthropogenic - absolutely NONE. Some assumptions, hysteria, and news articles are not scientific evidence. If we "believe" we understand these problems, we will not study the many other possibilities, and so risk never understanding the actual causes of these changes. It is quite possible the CO2 increase doesn't cause global warming, but rather, is caused by natural global warming. There are scientists looking into this possibility, but the eccoterrorist political lobby doesn't want to even hear about that. They can't scare the populace into giving them millions of dollars and reworking the world in their image with "natural cycles of changes", now, can they?

Joe, if I were to point randomly to a map of the ocean floor and ask you what is there, could you tell me? Do you have any idea how much there is about the ocean we don't know? We have a lot of studying left to do before we can even begin to figure out what are the factors involved in ocean acidification.

I wish you well on your search and like that you have enthusiasm, but caution you to be more thorough; To observe more, "believe" less, and always work your data through all four steps of the Test before deciding anything. Good luck Joe.

May God bless you and your search for Truth.