Ocean acidification (OA), attributed to the sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) into the surface ocean, and coastal eutrophication, attributed in part to land-use change and terrestrial runoff of fertilizers, have received recent attention in an experimental framework examining the effects of each on coral reef net ecosystem calcification (Gnet). However, OA and eutrophication in conjunction have yet to receive attention from the perspective of coral reef sediment dissolution.
Using the results from the NCAR CSM1.4-coupled global carbon cycle–climate model under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emission scenarios SRES A2 and B1, we estimated the effects of both global warming and ocean acidification on the future habitats of corals in the seas around Japan during this century. As shown by Yara et al.
By the end of the century coral reefs likely will be affected negatively by ocean acidification (OA), but both the effects of OA on coral communities and the crossed effects of OA with other physical environmental variables are lacking. One of the least considered physical parameters is water flow, which is surprising considering its strong role in modulating the physiology of reef organisms and communities. In the present study, the effects of flow were tested on coral reef communities maintained in outdoor flumes under ambient pCO2 and high pCO2 (1300 $μ$atm).
Anthropogenic CO2 is causing warming and ocean acidification. Coral reefs are being severely impacted, yet confusion lingers regarding how reefs will respond to these stressors over this century. Since the 1982-83 El Niño-Southern Oscillation warming event, the persistence of reefs around the Galápagos Islands has differed across an acidification gradient. Reefs disappeared where pH \textless 8.0 and aragonite saturation state ($Ømega$arag) ≤ 3 and have not recovered, whereas one reef has persisted where pH \textgreater 8.0 and $Ømega$arag \textgreater 3.