VALOCARB^© company with its understanding of the chemistry of CO₂ and the biochemical, biological and physiological mechanisms that govern the living world, has understood that the already catastrophic climate changes are only a sad beginning, and that the worst is yet to come, if we do not act effectively, on a very large scale, in extreme urgency.

This severity of the CO₂ impact is not well anticipated by most scientific, media and political circles, which focus on the currently visible threat of atmospheric CO₂.

In reality, the most serious threat is hidden and comes from CO₂ océanique.

In fact, the oceans, by dissolving CO₂, regulate atmospheric CO₂ which gives them a gigantic « buffer » role for climate change.

This translates into what is called ocean acidification, which is called improper, because this acidification is quite relative.

This  « acidification » due to CO₂ emitted by man alters these equilibrium reactions by causing displacements that lead to an increase in bicarbonate ions (HCO₃^-) and a decrease in carbonate ions (CO₃^2-), which will have a very concerning negative predictable impact on aquatic life.

CO₂ plays a key role at the living level, in these different forms:

• in the form of bicarbonate ions, CO₂ is involved in respiration and photosynthesis.
• in the form of carbonate ions associated with calcium ions, CO₂ is involved in the manufacture of limestone structures, which are essential for many marine organisms, the rarefication of these ions obviously prejudicial to manufacture, the growth and maintenance of these structures.

Typical example is that of the sea butterfly (sea snail).
The sea moth is a gastropod mollusc of about 2mm.
In the last decade, the southern ocean has lost 90% of its capacity to dissolve CO₂, in parallel and in the same ocean, the sea butterfly has lost about 30% of its population, and so we can predict its extinction within one to two decades.

If this species disappears, when it is at the base of the southern ocean food chain, it is easy to imagine the catastrophic consequences that this will entail, even to the point of threatening the food security of some countries.

Another typical example is coral.

Corals are colonies of polyps, small animals that make these buildings out of limestone. Their coloration is linked to a symbiosis with unicellular algae, zooxanthellas, to which they offer in particular, protection against their predators.

This symbiosis is all the more beneficial because the polyp is an oxygen-breathing animal generating CO₂, while the alga is a plant consuming CO₂ and generating oxygen.

For years, coral bleaching has been occurring in all oceans.

This bleaching occurs during periods of high heat: a significant increase in heat, by modifying the solubility constant of CO₂, causes a competition of anthropogenic CO₂ with CO₂ related to biological activities, which results in a disruption of photosynthesis and respiration activities by a saturation effect, variable according to the metabolism of each living species.

As a result of this surplus of anthropogenic CO₂ added to the CO₂ emitted by the polyps, photosynthesis increases and generates an excess of oxygen.

The breathing of the polyps is also disturbed by this surplus of CO₂, but also by the excess of oxygen, which becomes toxic. As Paracelsus said: « Everything is poison, nothing is poison, it is the dose that makes the poison ».

The symbiosis no longer works, and the two players separate: without seaweed, the coral first bleaches, then dies !

Some countries have already announced the loss of 90% of their coral reefs and even the Australian Great Barrier Reef is threatened.

If corals disappear, about 30% of our planet’s life forms will disappear, because coral reefs are first and foremost a place of life for countless species.

All this illustrates well the complex intricacies of the chemistry of CO₂ with the world of living which works according to equilibrium displacements and self-regulatory mechanisms that give it its adaptability, but also make it very fragile and vulnerable to sudden changes in its environment.

Of course, CO₂ plays a major role in climate change, but above all, it is a key molecule for life, intervening in various forms in breathing, photosynthesis and even in the limestone structures that support and protect the living.

It must be understood in order to measure the magnitude of the threat of such a massive disruption, the biochemical equilibria of this element so special for life on our planet.

For a very long time, we believed, and some still believe, that emitting CO₂ into the atmosphere had no impact on our ecosystems.

Unfortunately, by dissolving massively in our oceans, CO₂ gradually alters the chemical balances of its various forms in water, and after more than a century of emissions, we now reach a breaking point for many forms of marine life, which we are already witnessing.

But marine life is not the only one threatened by global warming.

Earth life is also threatened, and in a much more appalling way.