70% of the Earth's SURFACE is water; the planet itself is 99.9% rock (and metal, in the core).

And it's not really accurate to say that the oceans are not carbonated. The oceans contain lots of CO2 -- more and more every year, as we continue burning fossil fuels.

That's why the oceans are becoming increasingly acidic. A third of the 66 million tons of CO2 we put into the atmosphere every day by burning fossil fuels is absorbed by the oceans. CO2 dissolved in the ocean combines with water to form carbonic acid. Here's the chemical reaction:

CO2 + H2O → H2CO3

As more CO2 is added to the oceans, the acidity of the water increases. (Chemists measure acidity on the pH scale. As acidity increases, pH decreases.)

Increased ocean acidity is making it difficult for many marine organisms, from conchs and clams to corals and copepods, to form their reefs, shells, and tests.

The base of the marine food web is mostly photosynthetic phytoplankton, with a smaller proportion being chemosynthetic bacteria. Right above these autotrophs in the marine food web are the zooplankton, including a group called the foraminifera, aka "forams." Forams form tiny shells called tests. A foram test, like a clam shell or coral reef, is made of calcium carbonate. If the water's acidity gets too high (the pH too low) calcium carbonate dissolves or cannot be formed.

If you knock an important group of organisms out of the food web, this usually causes a wholesale collapse of the ecosystem.

The entire marine food web is threatened by ocean acidification. Should that give us pause? Only if you like to eat. Around 30% of the protein humans consume is seafood.

So the fossil fuels industry not only provides heat stroke with our cheap and dirty energy, but it also offers us famine! Huzzah!

And the Republican nominee for president of the United States is not only a neo Nazi, convicted felon, and adjudicated rapist; he's also a climate science denier. Quite an impressive resumé! And he has promised the fossil fuel industry, in return for a billion-dollar donation, to relax clean air standards, rescind policies and rules designed to reduce CO2 emissions, and allow coal, oil, and gas companies to strip mine and drill in sensitive habitats.

Try getting a pin-head flat-earther to wrap their flaccid noodle around that. (Sigh)

Have I managed to kill the joke yet? Sorry.

[washingtonnature.org]

[ucl.ac.uk]