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Recommended reading
Cedric Verdier
This book is dedicated to Nitrox rebreather diving and the basic principles and skills that every rebreather diver should know and master. It covers some topics like balance and trim with a rebreather, risk management, and proper Nitrox dive planning.
# Paperback: 84 pages # Publisher: Nitrox Rebreather Diving (January 26, 2008) # Language: English # ISBN-10: 2953093508 # ISBN-13: 978-2953093506 # Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 8.2 x 0.2 inches

Starfish defy climate change

A species of starfish goes against the trend by thriving as sea temperatures and acidity increase
Credit:   Peter Symes
Filephoto
Most studies have concluded that sea animals with calcified shells or skeletons, such as starfish, will suffer as carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels dissolves in the sea, making the water more acidic and destroying the calcium carbonate on which the creatures depend.

But not the sea star Pisaster ochraceus

Rebecca Gooding and colleagues at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, exposed sea stars to rising temperatures and water acidity. They thrived in temperatures of up to 21°C and atmospheric CO2 concentrations of up to 780 parts per million - beyond predicted rises for the next century

The sea star seems to survive because its calcium is nodular, so unlike species with continuous shells or skeletons it can compensate for a lack of carbonate by growing more fleshy tissue instead. The team therefore warn against assuming that global warming will have the same impact across groups of similar species.

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(Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0811143106).

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