Could corals survive more acidic oceans?April 2nd, 2012 - 6:19 pm ICT by IANS
Sydney, April 2 (IANS) Corals may yet be able to survive the acidification of the world’s oceans, escaping the effects of climatic devastation.
Researchers have identified a powerful internal mechanism that could enable some corals and their symbiotic algae to counter the adverse impact of a more acidic ocean.
As humans release ever-larger amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the air, besides warming the planet, the gas is also turning the world’s oceans more acidic, faster than those seen during past extinctions, the journal Nature Climate Change reports.
Scientists from Australia’s ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) and France’s Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, has shown that some marine organisms that form calcium carbonate skeletons have an in-built mechanism to cope with ocean acidification - which others appear to lack.
“The good news is that most corals appear to have this internal ability to buffer rising acidity of seawater and still form good, solid skeletons,” says Malcolm McCulloch professor at CoECRS.
“Marine organisms that form calcium carbonate skeletons generally produce it in one of two forms, known as aragonite and calcite,” adds McCulloch, according to a CoECRS statement
“Our research broadly suggests that those with skeletons made of aragonite have the coping mechanism - while those that follow the calcite pathway generally do less well under more acidic conditions,” said McCulloch.
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- Make more efforts to tackle rising ocean acidity, say European scientists - May 20, 2010
- Using Mother Nature's method to save oceans' marine life - Jan 20, 2011
- Cut global emissions to save coral reefs - Nov 18, 2009
- 'Rising CO2 levels threaten aquatic food webs' - May 08, 2012
- Radical methods needed to save oceans, say experts - Aug 21, 2012
- Carbon emissions lead to dangerous changes in oceans - Apr 02, 2010
- How climate change and pollution affect ocean chemistry - Jun 20, 2010
- High acidity levels in oceans harming marine life - Dec 05, 2010
- Weed-eating fish key to reef's survival - Mar 11, 2011
- Sea cucumbers could protect endangered corals - Feb 01, 2012
- Global warming threatens coral growth in Red Sea - Jul 16, 2010
- Acidic oceans endangering baby corals - Apr 19, 2012
Tags: acidic conditions, acidity, adverse impact, aragonite, calcite, calcium carbonate, calcium carbonate skeletons, centre of excellence, climate change reports, coping mechanism, coral reef, devastation, internal mechanism, journal nature, malcolm mcculloch, marine organisms, ocean acidification, reef studies, seawater, symbiotic algae