Top Tweets for #Acidification

We are told ocean acidity has increased by 30% in two centuries. But oceans aren’t acidic; they are alkaline. On the pH scale, 7.0 is neutral. The oceans have shifted from roughly 8.2 to 8.1 in 200 years - remaining firmly alkaline. So where does 30% come from? The pH scale is logarithmic. A tiny decimal shift represents a 30% change in hydrogen ion concentration, but the water itself is nowhere near becoming an acid. It’s a classic case of math creating psychological exaggeration. Using boron isotope proxies in ancient shells, paleoclimatologists track ocean chemistry back millions of years. The record shows oceans thrived under much higher CO₂ and lower pH levels in the deep geological past. The 'dissolving' narrative ignores the ocean's scale. With an average depth of 2.35 miles and 1.3 billion cubic kilometers of water, the ocean possesses massive chemical inertia. Atmospheric changes take centuries to even reach the deep abyss. Marine life is remarkably resilient. Many species actually calcify faster in CO₂-rich environments. The oceans are not a fragile bowl of acid; they are a vast, self-regulating engine that has remained resilient for millennia. #ClimateNuance #Oceanography #NASA #Greening