Coral Reef Ocean Acidification

Coral reefs are a highly complex and diverse habitat, supporting a wide array of marine species. These particular structures also play an important role in the global economy through their involvement in different industries, especially fishing and tourism. However, over the past several decades, the influx of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO₂) as a result of mass fossil fuel combustion has resulted in the global degradation of these economically and ecologically crucial habitats. The key process that has resulted in this extensive damage to coral reefs is termed ocean acidification, which is defined as the increase in oceanic acidity as a result of the uptake of atmospheric CO₂. Over the past 200 years, more than 30% of all CO₂ that has been emitted to the atmosphere as a result of anthropogenic activity has been absorbed by the oceans (Anthony et al. 2008). Such drastic changes in oceanic pH are having multiple adverse impacts upon coral reefs, with many of these effects expected to propagate throughout a multitude of marine taxa.
Calcification
As CO₂ is dissolved by the oceans, a sequence of chemical reactions is initiated as a result. The CO₂ that is taken up by the oceans readily combines with water molecules (H₂O) to produce carbonic acid, which easily
That being said, ocean acidification is often referred to as the “evil twin” of climate change as this particular process is associated with an increase in global atmospheric temperatures. Therefore it is widely unknown whether or not the impacts documented as being the result of ocean acidification are occurring synergistically with other changing physical conditions, namely temperature. Regardless, there is an overwhelming stockpile of evidence that proves that ocean acidification is having a wide range of negative impacts upon the physiology and process in coral