Plenty more fish in the sea?

I chanced to hear a conversation on the radio with the author of the book Seasick, Alanna Mitchell. I dont think I have ever understood before the significance of the sea to life on earth. We hear alot about Climate Change but little about Ocean Change, yet it seems to me from listening to this interview that Climate Change is a subset of Ocean Change. Every second breath we take, half of the oxygen we breathe, is produced by phytoplankton in the sea; the true lungs of the planet. About one third of the carbon dioxide that enters the atmosphere ends up in the ocean and now the huge increase in carbon emissions is making the sea more acidic. According to Mitchell, what is happening in the ocean is a largely unheeded hidden ecological crisis. Oceans cover 71 percent of the Earth's surface and contain ninety percent of the mass of life on this planet. Tim Flannery says that the ocean has the switch of life. In each of the previous 5 major mass extinctions the ocean became acidic and this phenomenon drives the extinction.

Phytoplankton cycle carbon and oxygen throught the atmosphere. When they die their shells store carbon at the bottom of the ocean, out of harms way, for thousands of years. Calcium is needed by these one celled creatures to build their shells. When the ph changes to become more acidic the plankton dont have the same access to calcium.
Oceans are also the major player in climate control; the ocean's currents, winds and water cycle activity regulate climate.

The publisher's summary says that Seasick is the first book to take the scattered pieces of this scientific puzzle and bring them into a cohesive story. It will change the way people understand the global ocean and its importance to all life on earth. Seasick, written by Alanna Mitchell, is published by Murdoch Books (2008)

The radio interview was on Radio National's The National Interest and can be heard or downloaded here http://www.abc.net.au/rn/nationalinterest/stories/2008/2375035.htm