In a fight against souring seas, even baby steps are difficult
When U.S. Rep. Brian Baird tried a few years ago to get his colleagues to put more money toward ocean-acidification research, few even understood the issue.
One congressman confused souring seas with acid rain, and asked, “Didn’t we deal with that 20 years ago?”
The corrosion of the oceans by carbon-dioxide emissions has barely made a ripple among Washington, D.C.’s power brokers. Little money gets earmarked for research. Ocean change has inspired few stabs at curbing CO2.
In fact, aside from West Coast lawmakers, few in Congress seem to grasp the scale of the challenge.
West Coast leads the way
So West Coast states, led by Washington state, are now forging ahead.
“This is a profound and unprecedented threat,” said Baird. “The existence of marine life as we know it could be profoundly changed by this. And we are scarcely attending to it.”
The oceans absorb ever more CO2 from cars and power plants, which is transforming the chemistry of the seas faster than at any time in previous years. That CO2 makes life hard for creatures with shells and skeletons and threatens to fundamentally transform the entire marine world.
Already, acidification has wiped out billions of oyster larvae in the Pacific Northwest and is causing trouble for tiny see-through creatures called pteropods, which are critical food for birds and fish. It poses risks for important sea life, including red king crab and many fish.
But since the source of acidification is also the chief culprit driving climate change — rising CO2 — efforts to respond at the national level get mired in global-warming politics.
So Washington state leaders are suggesting avenues for new research and are encouraging cleanup of polluted marine environments. They hope those steps will at least build resistance to acidification.
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