rhamphotheca: The Troubling Future of Coral reefs in an Acidifying Ocean by Laetitia Plaisance Scientists don’t often get the opportunity to travel through time. But nestled among the beautiful coral reefs of Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a place that provides a glimpse today of what could be the biggest future threat to coral reef survival: Ocean Acidification. Ocean acidification is occurring because the ocean has absorbed about a third of the carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels. That carbon is changing the chemistry of the ocean, making seawater more acidic. Reef biologists expect this to be a bigger and bigger problem as more and more CO2 enters the atmosphere. Normanby Island is a kind of “time vortex” where we can witness how reefs might respond to acidifying oceans. Here cool carbon dioxide naturally bubbles out of volcanic cracks in the shallow sea floor. Away from the CO2 seeps the water has a pH that is normal for modern day oceans, but as you swim closer to the seeps the water gets more and more acidic. I was fortunate to join scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science who are using this natural pH gradient to peer into the future… (read more: Smithsonian Ocean Portal)     (photo: Laetitia Plaisance)

rhamphotheca:

The Troubling Future of Coral reefs in an Acidifying Ocean

by Laetitia Plaisance

Scientists don’t often get the opportunity to travel through time. But nestled among the beautiful coral reefs of Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a place that provides a glimpse today of what could be the biggest future threat to coral reef survival: Ocean Acidification. Ocean acidification is occurring because the ocean has absorbed about a third of the carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels. That carbon is changing the chemistry of the ocean, making seawater more acidic. Reef biologists expect this to be a bigger and bigger problem as more and more CO2 enters the atmosphere.

Normanby Island is a kind of “time vortex” where we can witness how reefs might respond to acidifying oceans. Here cool carbon dioxide naturally bubbles out of volcanic cracks in the shallow sea floor. Away from the CO2 seeps the water has a pH that is normal for modern day oceans, but as you swim closer to the seeps the water gets more and more acidic. I was fortunate to join scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science who are using this natural pH gradient to peer into the future…

(read more: Smithsonian Ocean Portal)     (photo: Laetitia Plaisance)