{"id":163762,"date":"2021-09-20T20:14:15","date_gmt":"2021-09-20T18:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=163762"},"modified":"2021-09-20T20:14:17","modified_gmt":"2021-09-20T18:14:17","slug":"oceans-were-more-acidic-in-the-1730stodays-co2-levels-are-geologically-trifling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=163762","title":{"rendered":"Oceans Were More \u2018Acidic\u2019 In The 1730s\u2026Today\u2019s CO2 Levels Are Geologically Trifling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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A new study shows ocean pH (\u201cacidification\u201d) levels naturally vary seasonally and decadally at rates and magnitudes far exceeding those attributed to anthropogenic activity.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In recent decades the oceans\u2019 average pH level has fallen to 8.1 according to NOAA<\/a><\/strong>. This pH value is said to be about one-tenth of a unit lower than it was before modern industrialization (8.2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the oceans are\u00a0less alkaline<\/span><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0than they were at one point in time, the directionality of these pH changes is referred to as an\u00a0ocean acidification<\/span><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0process. Of course, humans are said to be responsible for this. We are allegedly acidifying the oceans, or facilitating the 8.2 to 8.1 decline over the course of the last few centuries, because we humans have caused atmospheric CO2 levels to rise from 280 ppm to 415 ppm since 1750. That\u2019s the allegation, anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But these assumptions seem to be challenged by the results shown in studies authored by the very scientists promoting the human-caused ocean acidification narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, a new study<\/a><\/strong> shows pH levels were lower in the 1730s and 1930s-\u201940s than in 2000, and that the highest pH levels (i.e., less<\/em> acidic) of the last 300 years occurred in the 1960s to 1980s. Anthropogenic CO2 emissions were negligible to non-existent in the 1730s, and by the 1930s they were only hovering around 1 GtC\/year. In the late 20th century, human emissions rates reached about 5 or 6 GtC\/year, and yet it was these decades that had the highest pH levels since the early 18th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further, seawater pH in the South China sea varies seasonally, or from about 8.1 in winter to 7.6 in summer. So, within a span of months, the ocean pH varies far more than it allegedly has due to human activity over centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Image Source:\u00a0Wei et al., 2021<\/a><\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

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A few other graphs from the Wei et al. (2021) paper show just how ordinary and unexceptional the modern atmospheric CO2 and ocean pH levels are relative to the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the main graph from the below image, notice how minuscule a 400 ppm atmospheric CO2 level and 8.2 to 8.1 pH change (circles on the top left and right) look relative to the changes over the last 25 million years (Ma).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then notice the wild variations in CO2 reaching 2500 to 3500 ppm between 40 to 60 Ma, and the pH values dipping to 7.4 or 7.5 during this same era. The top right graph shows pH levels dipping to 7.2 and atmospheric CO2 fluctuating by \u00b11000 ppm from about 182 to 185 Ma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Image Source:\u00a0Wei et al., 2021<\/a><\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

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Given today\u2019s alarmism about ocean acidification driven by high atmospheric CO2 levels, these images beg the question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did marine animals manage to survive in such \u201cacidified\u201d waters (7.2 to 7.5) if it\u2019s believed the modern biosphere is threatened by a pH value of 8.1?Share this…<\/p>\n\n\n\n