Out oceans: The LARGEST canary in the global warming "coal mine"

Sorry, the SUBJECT heading should read “OUR Oceans…”, not “Out Oceans…” Senior moment for not checking.

No worries, Eric. I most always leave my oceans out. They usually create a big mess in the house, and they like being out anyway. But you are right – warming oceans will certainly create devastating problems planet wide.

I’m not sure which will be the biggest tipping point – ocean water temperatures, crashing the base of the aquatic eco-system with ocean acidification, liberating methane hydrates, allowed the tundra to thaw and decay, or what.  Changing human behavior isn’t going to avoid huge consequences – we’ve done enough already that it’s definitely going to happen, but changing behavior rapidly will reduce how big those changes are.

I agree with David.

I posted this in a previous, more general thread, but since we’re focused on oceans here:

https://www.ocean.washington.edu/story/Warmer_Pacific_ocean

The oceans contain a huge amount of methane hydrates at depths where the temperatures are low enough to keep the crystals stable.  That is changing, which expands the methane problem far beyond the permafrost areas of the north.  It looks like we’re on the verge of creating another feedback loop that, once started, will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to reverse;  with disastrous effects on the atmosphere.  Particularly true given the people who control the levers of power.

To give us an idea of the scope of the problem:

https://geology.com/articles/methane-hydrates/

The Chinese and Japanese are already hard at work on technology to “mine” it as a nearly inexhaustable source of natural gas, a clear indication of the extent of the material, and the threat it poses if ocean temperatures continue to rise.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/05/energy-dense-methane-hydrate-extracted-by-japanese-chinese-researchers/