Support H.R. 14 Federal Ocean Acidification Act

The ocean absorbs about a quarter of all carbon dioxide emissions, which has caused the acidity of the water to rise by 30 percent over the last 250 years. Without intervention, the acidity of the ocean is expected to more than double by 2100.

Here is a great, easy to understand explanation of Ocean Acidification:

H.R. 14 directs the Secretary of Commerce to conduct research and monitoring and authorizes the Secretary to establish an ocean acidification program in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) consistent with the strategic research plan…

Here OMG founders Carter and Olivia are meeting with the Deputy District Director Andy Bush from Congressman Lynn Westmoreland’s office where they asked for the Congressman to Co-Sponsor the Ocean Acidification Act H.R-14.  More details on this meeting will follow in early 2011.

Creating marine protected areas and ending destructive fishing can strengthen marine ecosystems to help them withstand ocean acidification, but ultimately, decreasing carbon dioxide emissions is the only thing that will save our oceans. Please help stop ocean acidification — as well as climate change — by taking active measures to limit the emission of the pollutant carbon dioxide.

Here is an extraordinary article which does a great job of explaining Ocean Acidification in terms we all can understand.  We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we did.

What is Ocean Acidification?

Here is a video of how Carter and Olivia helped raise awareness to the Carbon levels in our atmosphere which ultimately ends up in our oceans.  You can learn more about why we need to get our Carbon Levels down to 350-ppm in our atmosphere by visiting 350.org ;

The United States must protect its oceans and coasts from the impacts of ocean acidification. Any climate legislation that moves through the Senate must consider ocean acidification. Our oceans depend upon it.

Please cut and paste this text in a word document and send it to your congressman;

Dear Congressman,

I am writing to urge you to protect our oceans and coasts from the devastating impacts of ocean acidification and climate change by passing a meaningful climate bill that does not expand offshore drilling into previously protected areas.

Our continued burning of fossil fuels is threatening our oceans and all who depend on them. Due to our carbon dioxide emissions, the oceans are becoming more acidic, a problem that will likely cause a mass extinction of corals and drastically change the oceans as we know them if action to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions is not taken immediately. Not only are the oceans becoming more acidic, sea levels also rising – threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions along the coasts; warming waters are changing weather patterns and may increase the intensity of storms and harm wildlife delicately adapted to specific ocean temperatures.

 

To prevent the catastrophic and irreversible effects of ocean acidification and climate change we must reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by 25-40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80-95 percent by 2050. This means moving away from fossil fuels like oil and coal and instead developing clean energy alternatives. Expanded drilling will have the exact opposite effect.

The threat to our oceans, coasts and wildlife is too great to allow more delay. We need to shift to a new energy economy of clean, renewable energy. By reducing the burning of fossil fuels, we may be able to turn the tide of ocean acidification and prevent the massive extinction of corals and the fish and marine wildlife that depend on them. Our oceans support fishing and tourism economies and should contribute to a new energy economy as well. A clean energy future represents jobs that we can’t afford to leave behind.

A July 2010 article in Scientific American quoted marine geologist William Howard of the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Center in Hobart, Tasmania stating that “the current rate of ocean acidification is about a hundred times faster than the most rapid events” in the geologic past. Research at the University of South Florida has shown that in the 15-year period 1995-2010 alone, acidity has increased 6 percent in the upper 100 meters of the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to Alaska.

We also ask that you support H.R. 14: Federal Ocean Acidification Research And Monitoring Act of 2009 which defines “ocean acidification,” for this Act, as the decrease in pH of the Earth’s oceans and changes in ocean chemistry caused by chemical inputs from the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide.

H.R. 14 directs the Secretary of Commerce to conduct research and monitoring and authorizes the Secretary to establish an ocean acidification program in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) consistent with the strategic research plan…

On June 10th of 2010, the Senate upheld the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. I’m writing to urge you to take advantage of this reaffirmed ability and protect the oceans from acidification.

 

The ocean absorbs about a quarter of all carbon dioxide emissions, which has caused the acidity of the water to rise by 30 percent over the last 250 years. Without intervention, the acidity of the ocean is expected to more than double by 2100.

The United States must protect its oceans and coasts from the impacts of ocean acidification. Any climate legislation that moves through the Senate must consider ocean acidification. Our oceans depend upon it.

The time to act is now.

 

Sincerely,

 

http://tinythom.as/hr14/gt

Thanks for your support,