Tag: coral reefs

Rising concentrations of CO2 will reduce worldwide ocean pH New evidence from volcanic seeps - fissures in the ocean floor that leak gases and minerals - suggests a bleak future for the reefs that harbour the world's richest marine ecosystems.Three natural carbon dioxide (CO2) seeps in Papua New Guinea have given scientists a snapshot of how coral reefs may look in 100 years.Like man-made sources of carbon dioxide, the seeps are making the water around them more acidic.The study showed reductions in reef diversity and complexity as pH values fell from 8.1 to 7.8, indicating greater acidity.At values below 7.7, reef development ceased altogether.Climate change experts estimate that by the end of the century, ocean acidity worldwide will change in a similar way because of CO2 emissions.The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) forecast predicts that rising concentrations of CO2 will reduce worldwide ocean pH from its present level of 8.1 to 7.8.Authors of the new research, writing in the journal Nature, said the effect of a pH drop below 7.8 would be ''catastrophic'' for the coral.Chris Langdon, from the University of Miami in the US, who led the seep reef research, said: ''These 'champagne reefs' are natural analogues ...

In 50 years, there may be no coral reefs and no fish Two years ago, I sat with roughly 1,500 fellow attendees of the annual TED Conference and listened as one of the worlds greatest explorers explained why we must stop plundering the oceans and start protecting themimmediately.Business as usual means that in 50 years, there may be no coral reefs and no commercial fishing, because the fish will simply be gone, the explorer said. Imagine the ocean without fish. Imagine what that means to our life-support system."We have to do everything possible, and we have to do it now."Theres a decent chance youve heard of Sylvia Earle, the author of that talk, but its quite possible you havent, because in this culture oceanographers arent astronauts; even a great scientist whos led at least 50 expeditions and spent more than 6,000 hours underwater is never going to have the name recognition of a Buzz Aldrin.And that priority gap is reflected pretty sharply in funding, too. As another marginally famous ocean explorer, Bob Ballard, commented in an earlier TED talk, NASAs annual budget to explore the heavens would fund the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations budget to explore the oceans for ...