State of Climate Science - Dr Lubchenco Demonstration Pt 1

Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, gives a demonstration during the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming Hearing, "The State of Climate Science" held on December 2, 2009

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[davidmaren2000]

this is ridiculous. co2 has and never will cause acidification of the oceans. her and holdren and all the global warming oh wait this moniker has been discredited, wait they have changed it to climate change. what political nonsense. her experiment is laughable.

[TRUMPHENT]

@HenryNichols50 Adding an acid is acidifying the water no matter what the start point ph is. I thought they taught that in junior high school.

[HenryNichols50]

It would be incorrect to say that the pH is lowered? It would be incorrect to say the ocean becomes less basic?

It would be incorrect to say the ocean becomes less alkaline? It would be incorrect to say the ocean gets closer to neutral? Please.

[thegoodlocust]

This lady is a liar. The pH of the ocean is 8 and has been 8 for hundreds of years. She is adding far more CO2 into the tap water (pH of 7) than is possible in nature - also, if she waited then almost all of it would've simply outgassed from the water - that's why she has to rush and do it right away since you can see the CO2 bubbling out of the water - it can't hold it at that room temps.

Also, corals evolved when CO2 was FAR higher than it currently is - they are being hurt by farm runoff.

[thegoodlocust]

Notice her lying? They're counting on it!

[TRUMPHENT]

@HenryNichols50 Acidification is relative. If the ph of a liquid drops, it is acidifying. It's the only way to describe it. Well, it's the only correct way to describe it.

[FerdiEgb]

Well, that is the lie! Of course if you add extreme quantities of CO2 or a strong acid (like acetic acid in demo 2), you ultimately reach low pH's and the solution will become acid. But that is practically impossible for seawater, even if you burn all known reserves of oil and coal. But please, don't believe me on my words, just ask anybody with a chemistry background who knows what a buffer solution does...

[FerdiEgb]

Sorry, but as good as for vegetation, corals and shellfish need CO2 and not only survived much higher CO2 levels in the (far) past, but produced thicker and more abundant shells. The white cliffs of Dover (UK) are remnants of the 10-12 times higher CO2 levels (and higher temperatures) during the Cretaceous time period.

[rjnagle]

That's not true. At the end she said that the same phenomenon exists for sea water as with tap water.

[HenryNichols50]

The "acidification" word game really irritates me. It gets picked up by journalists who quite logically conclude: if the ocean is acidifying it must be acidic. So "acid oceans" works it's way into headlines. The result is 28,400 google hits on the nonsensical phrase "acid ocean"