Editorial: Waves of fear

Monday, July 10, 2006 | 7:14 a.m.

Environmental news continues to be sobering. Now, scientists say, escalating levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are making the world's oceans more acidic, which could destroy the globe's coral reefs by the end of the century.

According to a recent story by The Washington Post, scientists are only beginning to monitor the oceans' acid levels, but they fear it could be among the most pressing environmental issues the world faces.

Acid alters the availability of calcium carbonate in the oceans, which corals, plankton, marine snails and other tiny sea creatures need in order to grow their shells and skeletons. These life forms are critical food sources for such larger species as baleen whales, salmon and mackerel, the Post reports. They are a foundation of the oceans' food chain.

Seas are becoming more acidic because they are absorbing about one-third of the carbon dioxide emitted in the exhaust of motor vehicles and power plants. A Stanford University chemical oceanographer told the Post that "what we're doing in the next decade will affect our oceans for millions of years."

While some scientists say it would take thousands of years, rather than 100, for such drastic changes to occur, those fearing an oceanic catastrophe say the seas' acid levels soon will exceed the Environmental Protection Agency's recommended levels. "It's say 'goodbye' to coral reefs" if carbon dioxide emissions continue rising at current rates, the Stanford scientist told the Post.

It is hard to fathom the fate of tiny creatures who live dozens or hundreds of feet below the surface of vast oceans. The world's seas seem infinite in the limits of the human eye. But tiny, incremental changes in Earth's atmosphere - whether it is acidic oceans, warming air and water temperatures or increased levels of particulate matter in the air - can cause immense, and permanent, damage over time.

Ignoring or politicizing these issues won't make them go away. The United States and other industrialized nations must get a handle on what they are pumping into the air and water. Talk of better technologies and fuel alternatives that are years away from practical use isn't enough. The average citizen must take on some of the responsibility and find ways to get out of their cars a little more often, too.