In 1956 Roger Revelle and Hans Suess, geochemists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California, pointed out the need to measure carbon dioxide in the air and ocean so as to obtain "a clearer understanding of the probable climatic effects of the predicted great industrial production of carbon-dioxide over the next 50 years." In other words, they wanted to figure out how dire the situation would be today. That they had to argue the importance of such observations now seems astonishing, but at the time scientists did not know for certain whether the carbon dioxide spewing out of tailpipes and smokestacks would indeed accumulate in the atmosphere. Some believed that it would all be absorbed benignly by the sea or be happily taken up by growing plants on land.

Revelle and the young researcher he hired for this project, the late Charles David Keeling, realized that they had to set up equipment at remote locations, far from local sources and sinks of carbon dioxide, which would cause the measurements to vary erratically. One spot they chose was about as far from industrial activity and vegetation as anyone could get: the South Pole. Another was at a newly established weather station atop Mauna Loa in Hawaii.

This article was originally published with the title The Dangers of Ocean Acidification.

3 Comments

1. 1. hankroberts 06:47 PM 2/3/08

   A plea to the editors: many of the people who do not believe in the science news also don't routinely go to the library to look things up. I beg you to make more science review articles free online. This is not the time in the world's history to keep science firewalled for profit.
   
   This article in particular is much referred to and would be read by far more people whose opinion might change, if you made it open access.

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2. 2. BROOKE315 10:53 PM 9/1/09

   I believe that the oceans closer to industrial activities will quickly absorb the carbon dioxide. The oceans further away from industrial activities will be affected but it will take longer because they are more isolated

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3. 3. McCorkindale 01:29 PM 3/19/10

   I whole hartedly agree with hankroberts journals and information sources if this kind should be freely accessible. This is the information age, to hoard information so avariciously is inexcusable.

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