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CO2 levels are crucial in nature’s balancing act
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From Ryan McMullen.
CONTRARY to Gerard Baudains’ letter (JEP, 7 October), I believe that global warming is a very valid reason for the Transport Minister wanting to reduce traffic flow.
Whether one believes in global warming or not, a few facts may change people’s views on the necessity to reduce carbon dioxide.
Without mentioning any theories about CO2 raising the earth’s average temperature – the part which which sceptics are unhappy – there is another argument why CO2 must be reduced.
When CO2 is produced, much of it dissolves in the earth’s oceans, forming carbonic acid. Since the Industrial Revolution, the acidity of the ocean has been lowered from a pH of 8.2 to 8.1 as a result of increased atmospheric CO2.
While this may not seem much, the pH scale is logarithmic, which means that if we had a pH decrease of 1, the hydrogen ions which cause acidity would increase ten-fold.
Acidity in the oceans has devastating consequences because it affects the delicate balance of ions in which coral reefs thrive. An excess of CO2 is a marine biologist’s nightmare.
Even without mentioning the social issues with reducing traffic, reducing congestion has everything to play for.
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