With all due respect Don, and I really did like and agree with the bulk of your reasonable and rational post; ocean acidification is a lowering of alkalinity!
Try this trick at home, but proceed with care.
Use only earthenware that is heat tolerant and wear rubber gloves and eye protection!
Put a little bicarb, [an alkaline or base,] in a saucer, slowly drizzle a teaspoonful of vinegar,[ an acid,] on to it.
This process does two things, the first is a chemical reaction which first produces heat and a chemical compound or salt.
The second is a reduction of alkaline and the acid products that created the combination salt product in an equal reaction equilibrium.
However, if you were to keep drizzling vinegar beyond any salt and heat creating chemical process, you would change the contents of the saucer or PH values, from mostly alkaline to mostly acid.
That is what is meant, as I understand it, by the term acidification.
Cheers, Rhrosty.

Agreed, Rhosty. But 'acidification' is a much scarier word than 'lowered alkalinity'!

@ killarney. Well said. There is a current campaign going on of which Ms Arnold appears to be a part, to blame the Greens for all of the ills of the present government. One might be encouraged to listen more carefully if there was an acknowledgement, for example, that the National Party, rejoicing at 4% of the popular vote (one third that of the Greens) continues to wag the Coalition tail. Or that Family First got a senator in Victoria with less than 2% of the primary vote, thanks to Labor preferences who were desperate to keep out another Green Senator. Look at the grief that idiot caused for six years.

Rather than misguided and plainly wrong criticisms of Green policy Ms Arnold would have been better to have focused on the fundamental issue. In my view that is that there is precious little difference between Labor and the Coalition when it comes to raping the environment because both of them are beholden to rapacious capitalism. Does one seriously think that an Abbott led government will produce a better result for the environment?

The planet survived mightily well for over 3 billion years without humans. One would be very brave to bet on us surviving another three thousand years as a species let alone billions more. No doubt the last survivors of our species will be bleating that it is all the Green's fault for not being economically "rational" or for arguing for civil rights for all.

Don. No apologies for an extended, sensible and accurate post. Just a little common sense and scientific accuracy would have helped the above post.

The most stringent of environmental assessments and subsequent conditions dictate the construction of the James Price Point gas hub, (conforming to regulations developed by the environmental movement over many years), in addition negotiations resulting in immense employment, economic advantages and social benefite to the local traditional population.

What is the evidence of endangerment to whale populations there. I have read peer revied research that concludes the contrary!

Herbert Stencil accurately expresses the concerns I have for the 'opportunity lost' by the foolish concentration on CO2. Truly a 'bit player' in environmental issues.

As stated in a post above, a little more science and rational/economic argument, and a whole lot less emotive posturing would strengthen the post immensely.

Once again, KAEP leaves me completely bewildered?

funny how many of the Greens are happy to fly around to conferences on money produced by mining companies in order to say how wicked their source of living high is. Just like the thousands who flew at tax payer expense to CopenHagen and recently to Rio for their love fests. They produce nothing except idiotic taxes and backslapping. The author speaks about the small number of votes the Nationals receive but forgets conveniently that Pauline Hanson received far more votes than the Greens not long back.

The author asks 'Is Australia’s World Heritage worth fighting for ? ' No actually but looking after the environment is. If locking up places for a few left wing academics to speak about how 'sacred'the place is means world hertiage then the average Aussie is again being conned.

Thankfully the 'dictatorships' under whose oppressive yoke we suffer are the unique sort of 'dictatorships' that can be voted out of office within 3-4 years. Pretty piss-weak 'dictatorship' really. Not only do you not get brutalised or executed for voting for the opposition: there is actually an opposition to vote for. And if you don't like any of the opposing parties you're allowed to go and form your own and convince people to vote for you. If you convince enough people you get to make the rules for a while.

So why don't you go and do just that instead of wasting your time and mine with your stupid hippy platitudes? It certainly seems a more productive use of your lack of imagination than bombarding us with the same old tired hippy cliches about ancient/majestic/mystical reefs/rainforests/whales (circle one adjective and one noun to produce your very own hippy cliche).

Cheers,

Tony