Chemicals on our planet move constantly between the Earth’s crust, the atmosphere, and bodies of water. The oceans and the atmosphere are the main reservoirs, and if a chemical increases in quantity in one of them, it will seep into the other, and vice versa. This is true for all atmospheric chemicals: the oxygen we need to live, the carbon dioxide we excrete, and the nitrogen, argon, and other inert gasses that simply exist in the system.

Due to the enormity of the reservoirs, the levels of the many chemicals remain relatively constant and in balance over time. However, human industry, driven by the unplanned anarchism of the capitalist market, has changed that. As the capitalists have burned fossil fuels and increased the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, the ocean has experienced a commensurate change in its CO2 levels as well.

Is this a problem for humanity or simply a fun fact about nature? Well, you may have heard of coral reefs dying. Acidification of the oceans is a direct cause. Because when CO2 dissolves in water, carbonic acid is formed, lowering pH levels and increasing acidity.

Over half of the world’s coral reefs have been lost since 1950, and 75% of those remaining are at risk from local and global stresses. / Image: Acropora, Wikimedia Commons

Coral and many other oceanic species use dissolved carbon dioxide to build their skeletons. However, when the amount of carbon dioxide in the water rises beyond a certain threshold, its bioavailability decreases. As this process continues to unfold, coral reefs planet-wide will die. Many of them already have. And just as a desert cannot sustain much life, neither can a dead coral reef.

Over half of the world’s coral reefs have been lost since 1950, and 75% of those remaining are at risk from local and global stresses. An estimated one billion people worldwide rely on fish from coral reefs as their main source of protein. With oceanic ecosystems collapsing, vast swathes of human society are under dire threat.

That the pursuit of profits through fossil fuel extraction and consumption are the root cause of the problem is a scientific fact. Emissions from the top fossil fuel companies are responsible for more than half of ocean acidification since 1880. Just 20 companies, including BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Royal Dutch Shell, accounted for 23% of the total. Quarter after quarter and year after year, maximizing shareholder earnings has been prioritized over the preservation of ocean life.

The only way to stop this deadly trend is to remove the profit motive from the fossil fuel industry. A workers’ government would nationalize this sector of the economy and harness humanity’s collective ingenuity to drastically reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and the oceans.