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You are looking at a very small fraction of the problem. Yes higher water is not an extinction level event. But with increased CO2 there's also increasing aci
by sliken 10y ago
You are looking at a very small fraction of the problem. Yes higher water is not an extinction level event.
But with increased CO2 there's also increasing acidification. So the plankton dies, coral dies, mollusks die (their shells erode). The food web at sea dies.... as does the food for a decent fraction of the planet. Acid rain causes more damage, food production becomes tougher... especially on the decreasing number of acres above flood level. Much of the most productive farm land in the world would be inundated with acidic salty water.
- 467568985476 10y agoThere is a great book by a marine biologist that goes into detail about these topics. It's called The Ocean of Life - The Fate of Man and the Sea by Callum Roberts. It was recommended to me here on HN several years ago, and I think that recommendation bears repeating. He goes into great detail about conservation topics for half the book, and the other half has to do with climate change and its effects on the oceans (and how that affects humanity).
- FullMtlAlcoholc 10y agoAlso, don't discount the rising level of violent conflicts that will ensue for shrinking resources.
- averagewall 10y agoConflicts don't cause extinction. The winner survives.
- FullMtlAlcoholc 10y agoNot necessarily. We all know of the theory of Mutually Assured Destruction. As an analogy, think about what happens if a deadly infectious bacteria or virus "wins" by infecting every human on earth. If there is no cure and no human has an adaptation or mutation to stop it, by winning it has sowed the seeds of its own destruction because there are no more hosts to infect. It is easy to imagine several scenarios where an all out war for dwindling resources can lead to extinction.
- dillon 10y agoI think what a lot of people miss as well is a lot of our oxygen output comes from life in the ocean. I don't know real numbers here or what other consequences this entails (just wanted to point it out).