A group of scientists have outlined a new and rising threat from the increase of carbon dioxide levels in the Earth’s atmosphere. Scientists, based in Stanford University, California, have turned the environmental eye towards the shape and life cycles of our oceans. The threat comes from the increased levels of pollution – namely, carbon dioxide emissions – that, by the end of the century, could turn our azure oceans into waters with an acidity level too hostile for a large variety of current sea-species. An acidity so strong that it will erode the coral reefs as well as the ecosystems that rely on their existence.
U.S scientists warn that if we do not dramatically reduce our carbon emissions by 2100 then consequences could prove fatal for the Earth’s reef life. The research focuses on environmental, ecological and industrial forecasts concerned with the rate at which pollution is emitted into the atmosphere against the biological defenses and overall ability to re-grow. The study underlines the threat posed against coral reefs throughout the oceans as being quite simple: the reefs are not defensively evolved enough to cope with a rise in the ocean’s acidity levels – and therefore will not be able to combat disintegration.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today has reached around 388ppm (parts per million). And even if that figure was frozen, the Earth’s atmosphere would still rise with the effects of global warming expected to take hold over the next decade. However, what has shaken oceanographers worldwide is that global atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are forecasted to reach 560ppm by the close of this century – a figure which will guarantee the deterioration of reef life.
Biodiversity remains a vital element of life on Earth. Its importance to the structure and stability of environmental harmony has been stressed throughout the past century by changing schools of science. And the coral reefs have been situated at the centre of some of the most biodiverse marine ecosystems in the world. The reefs, alone, house over 4,000 species of fish – as well as providing habitats for spawning and feeding areas.
Jacob Silverman, who headed the research carried out by the Carnegie Institution in Stanford University, California, explains that the coral reefs grow their structure much like the skeleton of a plant. The crawling skeleton shapes of coral are branched out by a form of calcium carbonate, extracted by the plant from the calcium ions in sea water. As oceans become increasingly acidic, the calcium carbonate is dissolved (and so too is the coral’s calcium-based structure) along with its primary method of regeneration and adaption.
Silverman also illuminates the threat of losing the coral reef’s symbiotic relationship with its surrounding marine life. That being, its generation of microscopic algae. Algae, found covering the surfaces of most coral plantation, is a vital food source for the habitat’s marine life. However, when temperatures rise the coral is forced to expel the algae, depriving itself of energy and turning itself white before dying.
This process known as ‘bleaching’ is one of the many threats facing the jagged teeth of the sea. One of many that could rot away our ocean’s smile.
