Ward presents his theory that most mass extinctions were driven by greenhouse gas-induced ocean chemistry changes. He describes how rising CO2 levels acidify oceans until marine organisms cannot form shells, and how saturated oceans can suddenly release massive amounts of carbon dioxide in catastrophic overturning events. He draws a parallel to the 1986 Lake Nyos disaster in Africa, where volcanic CO2 burst from a lake and killed nearly 2,000 people.
The conversation grows urgent as Ward reveals the Southern Ocean around Antarctica is already saturated with CO2 decades ahead of predictions. He warns that current warming trends mirror conditions that preceded the Permian extinction, the worst in Earth's history, which eliminated roughly 90 percent of all species. The first hour covers the Chad UFO photo controversy and open lines.
Key Moments
Arctic acid is dissolving the food chain: Ward says Arctic Ocean acidity has risen so high from absorbed CO2 that pteropods, the tiny mollusks at the base of the marine food chain, can no longer secrete calcium carbonate shells. Their shells are being etched off their backs.
Oceans can belch CO2 like Lake Nyos: Asked if a carbon sink could let go, Ward cites a brand-new Science paper: ice-core records show CO2 came out of solution from the ocean three times in the Pleistocene as huge bubbles, just like Lake Nyos in 1986 in Africa, which killed 1,700 people.
Most extinctions are gas attacks: Ward summarizes a new consensus: only the dinosaur extinction was an asteroid. The other 14 mass extinctions of the last 500 million years were short-term global warmings that bred ocean bacteria producing toxic hydrogen sulfide. He asked an ice expert how long to melt Greenland: 1,000 years at current rate.
Black Sea methane bubble torching Asia: Ward cites Northwestern chemical engineer Greg Riskin's calculation that the Black Sea holds enormous methane at depth. If it came out of solution and was struck by lightning, the bubble could float over China and burn up about half of Asia. The physics, Ward notes, is correct.
240-foot sea level rise: Ward gives a timetable: by 2050 sea level rises about a meter, which alone wrecks the world's deltas (Nile, Mississippi) that supply about a quarter of human food. Over 1,000 years sea level finishes rising 240 feet higher than today.