by James M. Taylor

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced it will address so-called ocean acidification, making a deal with the activist Center for Biological Diversity to produce guidance on the topic by November 15.

Global warming alarmists claim marine life is being threatened by carbon dioxide absorbed by oceans. They assert more carbon dioxide leads to increasingly acidic water, which in turn makes it more difficult for shellfish and invertebrates to calcify their shells.

EPA’s decision came after the state of Washington declined to list its marine waters as impaired under the Clean Water Act. The Center for Biological Diversity sued EPA, arguing EPA should have required Washington to classify its marine water as impaired.

A 2005 study published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature reports ocean pH was between 8.1 and 8.2 at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution—before humans began emitting significant amounts of carbon dioxide—and remains between 8.1 and 8.2 today. These levels are alkaloid, not acidic.

Several recent studies published in peer-reviewed journals such as Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, Biogeosciences, Global Change Biology, and Journal of Geophysical Research have all found marine life is either unaffected by or significantly benefits from higher carbon dioxide content and lower pH.

Dr. Craig Idso, founder and former president of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, confirmed in his 2009 book, CO2, Global Warming, and Coral Reefs, that higher carbon dioxide content in the world’s oceans benefits marine lifes and leads to more impressive growth rates up and down the food chain.

James M. Taylor (jtaylor@heartland. org) is managing editor of Environment & Climate News.