Acid oceans spell doom for coral MarineBio Marine Life Directory

URL:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/36059...

August, 2004 - The increasing acidity of the world's oceans could banish all coral by 2065, a leading marine expert has warned.

Professor Katherine Richardson said sea organisms that produced calcareous structures would struggle to function in the coming decades as pH levels fell

The expert, based in Denmark, told the EuroScience Open Forum 2004 that human-produced carbon dioxide was radically changing the marine environment.

Ice cores show current carbon dioxide levels are higher now than they have been in the last 440,000 years.

Most of it will eventually be absorbed by seawater, where it will react to form carbonic acid.

The oceans currently have a pH of about 8, but experts predict this could dr0p to pH 7.4.

Scientists fear this increasing acidification could have a particularly detrimental effect on corals and other marine organisms, because it reduces the availability of carbonate ions in the water for them to make their hard parts...

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