WHAT THE LITTLE PTEROPOD TEACHES

What ailing pteropods tell us about climate change

Larry Taylor, June 25, 2014 (LA Times)

“…[Tiny seagoing snails called pteropods] make up the base of many oceanic food webs. Without them, everything in the food chain above them suffers…Unfortunately, [t]heir shells are literally dissolving, killing them off in astounding numbers…The cause of this die-off, ultimately, is believed to be the rising levels of carbon dioxide…that turns the oceans more acidic, slowly disintegrating [shellfish like the pteropods]…[A]bout 250 million years ago, the oceans endured similar changes…Unfortunately, this past acidification event coincided with the Permian-Triassic extinction…[that] wiped out more than 90% of marine species. The planet took millions of years to recover, the history of life was forever altered…[and now] the Earth is changing…in a way very similar to what caused the greatest extinction in history…[Though it] may seem like a slow progression, it's a mere instant in Earth's history, and the environmental changes we're causing far outstrip the ability of life to adapt...[L]et's not overlook or dismiss these initial symptoms…We're growing ever closer to pushing our home over the edge, perhaps into another mass extinction…” click here for more

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