CO2, corals and 350 – mini science update
Rebecca Anderson
|November 16, 2009
Getting back to our look at the number 350 last week…
At a conference this past summer, David Attenborough warned that for coral reefs, 350 is the magic number. Being already above that, he and other scientists say that we’re likely to lose many corals in the next few decades.
Coral suffer from the uptake of CO2 by the oceans, which makes them more acidic and makes it harder for the corals to grow their skeletons.
However, they also get hit by the warming of the oceans as well, which can kill the algae growing inside the coral polyps and provide them with food – this is coral bleaching. Double yuck.
(Note: Link to news article on this here. I couldn’t find the actual science article to back this info up, which does lessen its credibility. But for another article on actual research on how ocean acidification will affect corals, see here.)
Join our Youth Action Network
More Blog Posts
Our Climate Wins Were on Display at the State of the Union
Today, the Biden Administration temporarily halted all pending decisions on 17 Liquefied “Natural” Gas (LNG) projects across the Gulf South.
Read MoreACE Honored As An Anthem Awards Finalist
Action for the Climate Emergency (ACE) announced today that it won Bronze in Best Use of AI at the 3rd …
Read MoreBREAKING: Biden Halts LNG Export Expansion
Today, the Biden Administration temporarily halted all pending decisions on 17 Liquefied “Natural” Gas (LNG) projects across the Gulf South.
Read More