[Coral-List] coral bleaching

[Eugene Shinn]

Hi Austin, Thank you for being so polite. I examined the NOAA site 
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide 
<https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide> 
that you posted and found some problems. The figure showing 800,000 
years of temperature data based on CO2 in bubbles in ice cores has been 
around for a few years. What always catches my eye is the even spacing 
of the temperature spikes beginning with the one that starts at 400,000 
in the graph. The even spacing appears the same as the one still forming 
today. If the first four are caused by wiggles in Earth’s orbit as 
stated in the website then the present one was also caused by wiggles in 
the orbit. That makes sense because it begins more than 10,000 years ago 
long before there were automobiles, power plants etc etc. Also, its peak 
is about the same as the preceding four peaks. The 412.5 ppm at end of 
dashed red line is not from CO2 in bubbles but from the air above the 
Hawaiian volcanic peak where measurements have been made since 1958. If 
I did not know, I might wonder if there was a similar CO2 high above the 
other four temperature peaks. (We have no way of knowing) I have long 
wondered why no one has taken a short 1 or 2-ft long core from the 
surface where the deep cores are taken to see if the CO2 in the bubbles 
near the surface do in fact match the CO2 level in the air above the 
snow/ice? It would be a good test to see if the data from bubbles in the 
deep cores do actually reflect atmospheric CO2 levels. It would be a 
simple thing to do. It would help determine if the data from the bubbles 
are actually correct. I think the figure as it is would be very 
misleading to the average non scientist person/tax payer. I might also 
mention that most of the cores we have taken in the Florida Keys contain 
a redish-brown soil stone/caliche layer capping each of the four peaks 
in the ice core record. There is also an identical layer capping the 
surface throughout the Florida Keys which demonstrates how the layers in 
the subsurface were likely formed. Carbon 14 age dating has shown the 
surface layer in the Keys is still forming. The redish/brown color is 
caused by iron and clay minerals deposited from the atmosphere/African 
dust.

The photos of two Pterapod aragonitic shells also caught my attention. 
The one on the left does in fact show the effect of CO2 dissolution 
which can happen when the shell sinks into deep cold water that contain 
more CO2 than warm surface water. There have also been lab experiments 
in which Pterapod shells were placed in water artificially acidified by 
adding CO2. The one shown here was likely created that way. (Google: 
Pteropod shell experiment). My suspicion is that this website was 
prepared for members of congress and or the average citizen to show the 
potential dangers of elevated CO2 levels that might occur in the future. 
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Gene