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Given that the energy needed to change ocean temp is massive and the current momentum, no tech solution will be able to prevent ocean ecosystem collapse of 90%
by JoshTko 3y ago
Given that the energy needed to change ocean temp is massive and the current momentum, no tech solution will be able to prevent ocean ecosystem collapse of 90% ocean lifeform death. We're probably past the point of no return already.
- thriftwy 3y agoIn the last few million years there were massive swings in Earth (and sea) temperature. A couple hundred million years ago there was a warm era, there were no ice anywhere on Earth. I can see how climate change might be highly destructive to human habitat, but "90% ocean lifeform death" is the best excuse for not taking climate activists seriously.
- trallnag 3y agoDid it also fluctuate as quickly in the past?
- thriftwy 3y agoI bet it did when meteor struck Earth.
- kaba0 3y agohttps://xkcd.com/1732/ https://xkcd.com/1732/ Also, oxygen and CO2 solubility changes heavily with temperature.
- marcyb5st 3y agoIt all depends on the rate at which things change. Greenhouse gasses we emitted already changed temperatures faster than ever before (1ish °C in less than 2 centuries). Nature doesn't have time to adapt to such a repentine change and so another "great dying" is a concrete possibility.
- kaba0 3y agoAd absurdum, dust in the higher parts of the atmosphere can cause to literally freeze over the whole planet. I am no optimist, but not due to technological limitations, but economic ones — the only hope is “unknown unknowns”. We might invent some new technology that could wipe clear our existing estimates for the better.
- civilized 3y agoWhy do so many people believe this notion that current trends of warming imply looming mass extinction? What is the argument or evidence for this?
- Daishiman 3y agoThe velocity of change is historically unprecedented and we have a good amount of empirical evidence of what it takes to collapse ocean ecosystems.
- WillPostForFood 3y agohistorically unprecedented Unprecedented in the last 100 years, million years, or 500 million years? That's a lot of precedent with some major and rapid climate changes.
- steve_adams_86 3y agoAre you aware of the climate and antmosphere ever changing so abruptly according to ice core records?
- Retric 3y agoIce core records don’t go back that far. But some past mass extinction events were believed to be caused by more rapid climate swings resulting from asteroid impacts etc.
- steve_adams_86 3y agoThe thing about our situation is that no asteroid strikes or major geological events have occurred. So we know it’s possible to have major swings, but it’s less clear that they should occur without some obvious trigger.
- zosima 3y agoWhat resolution does ice core records have? Do they really show year-over-year change or are the core records being smoothed through natural processes?
- George83728 3y agoThese ocean-surface temperatures concern the top few millimeters of the ocean. The thermal mass in question is far far lower than the ocean itself.
- pvaldes 3y ago> only the top few millimeters This is not how we measure ocean surface temperatures. The researching cube is sink entirely. Two m deep is still surface.
- George83728 3y agoApparently the meaning of 'surface' depends on the article. From wikipedia " The exact meaning of surface varies according to the measurement method used, but it is between 1 millimetre (0.04 in) and 20 metres (70 ft) below the sea surface." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_surface_temperature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_surface_temperature My understanding of this came from an article Karina Von Schuckmann, for which I can't find the PDF right now, which said they were measuring the top few millimeters.
- pvaldes 3y agoOne thing is the definition of the surface layer of water (0 to -20m correct) and other how to measure its temperature. If you use a floating thermometer the sun-rays are probably warming it or the winds are cooling it, so you are including an error in your sample. The results are higher or lower water temperatures than the real ones. It is assumed that the water layer mix uniformly in the first meters by wave forces and wind so we can measure surface at 10m perfectly