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To: Robert A. Cook, PE

Yes, more CO2 in the air will increase phytoplankton growth (and only phytoplankton growth, not zooplankton). If the phytoplankton productivity is too great, a “bloom” occurs, followed by a “crash” or massive die-off due to the phytoplankton’s having rapidly depleted the surface nutrients in the water.

The early die-off throws the natural “schedule” off, and thus phytoplankton ultimately ends up being scarce — for a while. Since phytoplankton is the nutrient at the very bottom of the food chain, the scarcity caused by an unusual bloom and die-off affects everything else on up to the top of the chain.

Now, whether this is all happening because of a “vanishing” Arctic ice pack, and whether that “vanishing” ice pack is due to human activity of any sort, and whether there is anything at all that humans can really do to correct the situation — I’ll leave that to the readers to decide...


16 posted on 12/06/2008 8:46:37 PM PST by RepublitarianRoger2
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To: RepublitarianRoger2
Er, uhm, no.

Remember, that huge plankton growth was based on an immediate doubling (from 380 today to 500+ and 700+) ....

Actual temperatures are declining slightly that past ten years, but have increased only .2 degrees since 1900. Ice levels have NOT significantly changed, but have moved (summertime) with winds, and have been the same in winter.

So, what would cause the massive blooms? It - like the supposed acidization of the sea causing the sound propagation change, causing the whales to die - is exaggerated fiction.

27 posted on 12/06/2008 11:22:26 PM PST by Robert A Cook PE (I can only donate monthly, but socialists' ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
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