Ocean acidification to continue...

[Megalodon]

A pH drop of .1 already confirmed and models suggest another .3 drop by 2050. That's a total drop of .4 possible within the next four decades and it might not even stop there. At what point will this become catastropic for reefs?


Researchers Reveal Ocean Acidification At Station ALOHA In Hawaii

ScienceDaily (Aug. 7, 2009) "” The burning of fossil fuels has released tremendous amounts of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, significantly impacting global climate. Were it not for the absorption of CO2 by the oceans, the alarming growth of atmospheric CO2 concentration would be substantially greater than it is.

However, this beneficial role of the oceans as a CO2 "scrubber" does not come without undesired consequences. When dissolved, CO2 acts as an acid, and lowers seawater pH. Since the beginning of the industrial age, CO2-driven acidification of the surface oceans has already caused a 0.1 unit lowering of pH, and models suggest that another 0.3 pH unit drop by the year 2050 is likely. Continued acidification of the sea may have a host of negative impacts on marine biota, and has the potential to alter the rates of ocean biogeochemical processes.

More...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090806112609.htm

 

[KarlBob]

A shift of 0.4 pH unit would be pretty bad, I think.

Taking the long view, reefs have survived several glaciation cycles, and they'll probably survive our meddling. At worst, I think we could wipe out the majority of the reefs for the rest of our lifespan, and deprive ourselves of the pleasure of visiting them, but the remaining pockets of reef would eventually spread again.

 

[addicted2reefin]

at one point in time plant life was at a minimum and im sure the co2 was excess, and the ocean probably had the ph of battery acid. im sure things adapted and made it through. what is alaraming about this is the rapid rate of degradation. im sure it has nothing to do with the destruction of rainforests either . we need to plant more trees.
with the increase in co2 in the water, and the increase in nutrients, it is a fuel for massive algea blooms. the good side is that it will eat up alot of the co2 in the atmoshpere and the ocean stabalizing the atmosphere for a short period of time, until the algea dies off from lack of nutrient and releasing all that back into the ocean. bad side, say bye bye to the ocean.

 

[JMBoehling]

A .4 drop has never killed anything in my reef

 

[acrylic_300]

Most of the reef will already be sitting in peoples homes


Joking aside, I think the corals could manage to adapt over that period of time. Unless it tips the scales in the favor of some kind of predator.

 

[jjk_reef00]

Lets add truckloads of sea-chem reef buffer! It works great on my tank.

 

[greenbean36191]

A .4 drop has never killed anything in my reef

Your reef also doesn't have to deal with any of the negative growth factors that reefs in nature do. Aside from occasional fraging, captive reefs see nothing but positive growth.

 

[ctenophors rule]

from what i understand the ph is raising the CCD the CCD will wind up being at the surface of the ocean by 2100 according to victoria and favre, i wish i could access that article again, they don't have it at my library's website.

their will be a few places that may have a ccd conducive to coral growth, but not enough...

i am interested in seeing if the increased seagrass growth rates might help tip the scale, or at least if in the giant seagrass beds, the co2 may be kept at a low enough level to support positive coral growth, like maybe the shark bay of australia...

 

[greenbean36191]

Well I'm not sure about any predictions of how shallow the CCD will get by when, but the concern for corals is a slowing of growth at a time when negative growth, competition, and sea level is increasing. At least on the near-term no one is concerned that the corals will actually start dissolving.

Basically, coral reef growth is a balance between positive growth from calcification and sedimentation vs. negative growth from chemical dissolution, breakage, and bioerosion. On a healthy reef in nature the positive growth barely beats out the negative growth (which is why there is no comparison between what happens in a reef tank and the wild on this issue). If you slow the rate of growth by making the chemistry less favorable for calcification, by killing off the corals with disease, by bleaching them every few years, and by occupying more space with competitors like algae then the balance could very easily tip. In a world with rising sea level, even breaking even is a death sentence for coral reefs.