The EPA, in response to a lawsuit settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity, is requesting comments on how to address Ocean Acidification under the Clean Water Act. Please submit your comments on Ocean Acidification here, and use Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OW–2010–0175 in your filing. It is important that we get a huge groundswell of comments here. We need to get every coastal state onboard this effort, since our future well-being is dependent on it.
According to the Center for Biological Diversity re Ocean Acidification:
When we spew carbon dioxide into our air, it eventually ends up in our oceans, too — absorbed to the tune of about 22 million tons per day. This results in global warming’s evil twin: ocean acidification.
As oceans absorb carbon dioxide, or CO2, seawater chemistry changes and the water becomes more acidic. According to scientists, the oceans have become about 30 percent more acidic due to human CO2 emissions — and this spells trouble for ocean life. First of all, ocean acidification depletes seawater of the compounds that organisms need to build shells and skeletons, impairing the ability of corals, crabs, seastars, sea urchins, plankton, and other marine creatures to build the protective armor they need to survive. To make matters worse, fish and other ocean organisms may be adversely affected from the rise in acidity in their ocean habitat. Fish are common ocean prey, and plankton are at the base of the ocean food chain, so when these animals suffer, so do the countless animals that eat them. Ocean acidification could disrupt the entire marine ecosystem.
Please take a moment from your busy day to submit a comment.
