Unstoppable Global Warming Caused The Earth To Become Uninhabitable – Several Times

9 Responses to Unstoppable Global Warming Caused The Earth To Become Uninhabitable – Several Times

1. Mike Bromley says:

   March 21, 2011 at 1:16 pm

   “In the pale-green muddy cores, warm periods are represented by bands of grey sediments that are rich in clay left behind when the calcareous shells of microscopic organisms were dissolved on the sea floor. During these periods, the ocean was more acidic because when the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide, it is converted into carbonic acid.”

   Exactly what magical content of carboic acid is not specified, however. In order to dissolve CaCO3 in shells, the sea water would need to have a substantially lower pH than it does now. A few hundred ppm of CO2 is insufficient to acidize the entire water column (the hypothesized dissolution happened on the seafloor). So where did this low pH originate? Or were there other explanations possible? Like turbidity, for instance? Carbonate-secreting organisms like clean water. If full of clay, they don’t tend to stick around.

   Looks like reaching to shoehorn CO2 as the cause again.

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   • Mike Bromley says:

     March 21, 2011 at 1:23 pm

     Deep-sea sediments are also formed below the carbonate compensation depth, where carbonates are more soluble due to low temperature and pressure. Invoking CO2 is not necessary.

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     • Latitude says:

       March 21, 2011 at 2:05 pm

       bacteria…

       …it’s hard to explain biological processes chemically

       Reply
   • Latitude says:

     March 21, 2011 at 1:35 pm

     These people do not realize that if CO2 was that powerful…
     ..no one would be able to keep a reef aquarium in the house

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     • Dr. Killpatient says:

       March 21, 2011 at 2:06 pm

       My reef aquarium boiled away like butter on a frying pan when I accidentally breathed on it one time.

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     • Latitude says:

       March 21, 2011 at 2:32 pm

       It’s common for in house CO2 levels to be over 1000ppm.
       If what they say is true, then no one would be able to keep a reef aquarium in the house.
       Much less grow and breed corals, which is fairly common today.

       Reply
       • stevengoddard says:

         March 21, 2011 at 2:51 pm

         Corals evolved at over 5,000 ppm
2. Latitude says:

   March 21, 2011 at 2:38 pm

   Here’s a funny fact about hard corals….
   They are trying to say that low pH will cause them to dissolve.

   Corals lower their own pH in order to precipitate calcium and carbonate.
   Lower ambient pH just makes it easier for them.

   You would not be able to ship corals all over the world either.
   The pH drops too low in their shipping bag and they would be dissolved by the time
   they got there.

   …and the fact that corals evolved when CO2 levels were measured in the thousands

   But then we could get into the whole carbonate buffering cycle and why it’s impossible for acidification to even happen in the first place.

   Reply
3. Andy Weiss says:

   March 21, 2011 at 3:07 pm

   Wasn’t 65 million years ago a big die off, when the dinosaurs became extinct? Wasn’t that supposedly caused by a meteorite? What caused all that extra CO2? We didn’t have evil SUVs back then.

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