Oceans on the verge of an asthma attack ?

Ocean acidification and deoxygenation are consequences of anthropogenic CO2 emissions that remain largely unknown to the general public. This is due to the complexity of the physical and chemical processes involved. Communicating these issues requires simple, psychologically effective language. I revisited the ancient philosophical tradition that conceptualizes the Earth (macrocosm) as a large-scale copy of the human body (microcosm). A unique system of mathematical equations exists that calculates the chemical composition of both the human body and the ocean, providing a solid foundation for this analogy. Ocean acidification and deoxygenation can thus be explained as the result of a planetary-scale asthma attack, providing communicators with a tool that introduces these complex oceanic processes using a vocabulary accessible to the general public.