Harrould-Kolieb and Savitz., 2008:

"Prior to the Industrial Revolution around 98 per cent of coral reefs were surrounded by waters with adequate or optimal aragonite saturation states (see Figure 3a), however this has rapidly changed with increasing ocean acidification. At today’s carbon dioxide concentrations about 60 per cent of coral reefs are surrounded by waters that have less than adequate saturation states (see Figure 3b) and if carbon dioxide concentrations increase to 450 ppm, more than 90 per cent of coral reefs will be surrounded by such waters (see Figure 3c). No corals that exist today will be near waters with adequate saturation states if carbon dioxide concentrations are allowed to reach 550 ppm (see Figure 3d)."

"In fact, an atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration of 560 ppm could produce ocean conditions so inhospitable to corals that almost all of the sites where corals grow today will be under-saturated with respect to aragonite causing the corals to dissolve.  However, coral calcification could virtually end before we reach 560 ppm because aragonite structures will likely be eroding due to acidification once carbon dioxide concentrations reach 480 ppm (see Table 3)⁹³. It is likely that under a business-as-usual scenario, only a few tiny areas in the oceans will remain optimal for coral growth by 2040, and by the end of this century no adequate conditions will remain⁹⁴. It is for this reason that scientists have recommended that carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere be stabilized at 350 ppm or below to maintain the coral dominated ecosystems we know today."

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Citation and/or URL

Harrould-Kolieb, E. & Savitz, J. 2008, Acid test: can we save our oceans from CO2, Oceana, Washington, DC.

http://www.oceana.org/

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