I usually take an in-depth look at some technology in the EPSILON SciFi Thriller series. Or something coming our way in the near future. On occasion I’ll discuss the physical environment, often on Mars.
In Scarlet Odyssey, I reference an event related to our changing climate here on Earth. Today we’ll examine that, providing some bonus Scarlet Odyssey background to only you, my subscribers.
Climate change. Global heating. No matter what our personal opinions are on the topic, most of us are familiar with the potential repercussions: melting ice sheets, sea level rise, ocean warming, weather extremes, drought-enhanced wildfires, ocean acidification, the displacement of climate refugees. Each one of these outcomes poses dire consequences.
Here in Central Oregon, we’ve had to contend with the twin calamities of drought and extreme wildfires. But there’s another consequence of ocean warming few are aware of, hydrogen sulfide eruptions or blooms. More than any other effect of global warming, I fear this one the most. Here’s why.
Hydrogen sulfide, H2S, is a naturally occurring gas composed of two atoms of hydrogen attached to a sulfur atom. It has a distinctive “rotten egg” smell. Inhaled in small doses, it’s an inconvenience. But in increasing amounts it can lead to irritated mucosa, headaches and fatigue. Exposure to concentrations greater than 500 ppm can be fatal.
H2S is a minor gaseous component of volcanism. Water vapor, carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide are far more common. If you can smell it, you’re more likely to die choked by ash or roasted by a pyroclastic flow. It’s easier (and safer) to get faint whiffs of it when visiting natural hot springs.
But hydrogen sulfide is also a byproduct of anaerobic microorganism metabolism. In the oceans, the concentration of free oxygen diminishes with increasing depth. Free oxygen, too, diminishes with increasing water temperature. Microbes in the subkingdom Archaea, thrive in low and no oxygen environments. In fact, oxygen is toxic to them. When you smell H2S in coastal mud flats at low tide, that’s a sure sign of anaerobic conditions.
That covers the hydrogen sulfide part. But what the heck is the “eruption?” In a low oxygen environment accompanied by high concentrations of dead biological material, anaerobic bacteria on the sea floor grow unchecked. The concentration of H2S increases and begins to move up the water column.
When it reaches the surface, the water turns a milky yellow-green. The gas is released into the air, creating a toxic pocket that dissipates with distance from the bloom. Fish kills are common. Even marine mammals and birds can succumb in larger events. But more critically, it wipes out the phytoplankton and algae that otherwise oxygenate the water. That creates a negative feedback loop that so far dissipates by ocean currents and seasonally cooler water.
As marine waters have warmed over the past few decades, more and more of the water column is anaerobic. Gulf of Mexico dead zones have been increasing in size and frequency. During that same period, H2S concentrations have increased in the Baltic Sea as well.
Here’s the scary part for me. 252 million years ago, near the end of the Permian Era, there was a massive volcanic event in what is present-day Siberia. This eruption lasted 1 to 2million years and buried the landscape under almost a million cubic miles of basaltic lava flows.
So much CO2 was released, that global temperatures spiked. Higher-latitude temperatures became 18°F to 54°F warmer than today. Ocean temperatures climbed, leading to a proliferation of hydrogen sulfide gas. The outcome has been called “The Great Dying,” the worst global extinction event known. Some 80% of all marine species went extinct. Many terrestrial species disappeared as well.
Not to downplay the current climate crisis, but human-caused CO2 levels and global heating won’t approach anything like what happened at the end of the Permian Era. But I do believe that increasing H2S blooms could cause certain fish stocks to crash, thereby straining human populations that rely on seafood for their protein. This may have already occurred to the snow crab fishery in the Bering Sea. That crash was attributed to warmer water on the sea floor there.
What does all this have to do with Scarlet Odyssey? Without giving too much away, the future owner of EPSILON experiences a passing hydrogen sulfide event driven by Caribbean currents. He is so moved he purchases an autonomous EV company to promote lower CO2 emissions. But his business finds itself embroiled in the global competition for rare earth elements, spurring him to source those vital minerals on Mars. The rest (at least from the omniscient perspective of this author) is history.
Check out the info below this article then download your FREE copy of Scarlet Odyssey today!
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Want a deeper dive? Check out these sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permian%E2%80%93Triassic_extinction_eventhttps://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tfacts114.pdfhttps://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/18791/hydrogen-sulfide-eruption-off-namibia#:~:text=People%20living%20along%20Namibia's%20desert,hydrogen%20sulfide%20eruption%20in%20progrehttps://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/global-warming-led-climatic-hydrogen-sulfide-and-permian-extinctionhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-25019-2#:~:text=Specifically%2C%20the%20Permian-Triassic%20mass%20extinction%20occurred%20during,at%20the%20million-year%20timescale)%20of%201
