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Last month, the National Science Foundation released a report entitled

Impact of Ocean Acidification on Coral Reefs. The report links

increases in atmospheric CO2 to the acidification of the ocean

suggesting that global warming threatens the survival of coral reefs.

Cato Senior Fellow in Environmental Studies Pat Michael's comments.

I understand you take issue with some of the assertions in the National Science Foundation report.

Well, it's not me that takes issue with them, it's the facts that take issue with things in the report.

The report talks about increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and that that results in increasing oceanic acidity.

Well, indeed, in the long run that may be true, but the report starts off by overestimating the rate of increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide

by twice what it actually is.

The report says, quote, rates of increase

have risen from 0.25% per year in the 1960

to 0.75% per year in the last five years. That's just not true.

The monoloa record of carbon dioxide taken at the observatory there is the gold standard.

It's the one everybody uses and the average rate of

change in the 1960s was 0.3% per year so it was higher than they said it was and in

the last five years it is 0.55% not 0.75% and all this results in them doubling the

amount of carbon dioxide they're assuming is going in the atmosphere.

What are the implications of this difference?

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