1. Threats to coral reefs from increasing concentrations of dissolved carbon dioxide.
By Elinor d

2. Carbon Dioxide Carbon dioxide is an important part of life on Earth:
It is part of the carbon cycle, where carbon is traded between rocks, soils, oceans and are biosphere.
Photosynthesising organisms such as plants, algae, and chlorophyll-attained organisms (through endocytosis) like the golden jellyfish use carbon dioxide to carry out photosynthesis.
Oxygen is their waste product which is very important for us. Carbon dioxide is a key element that helps organisms thrive on earth.

3. However, rising levels since the industrial revolution has caused some devastating impacts. One of the many impacts is the increasing Co2 concentrations in coral reefs.

4. The Coral Reef The coral reefs are a wide range of marine ecosystems.
The ocean is made up of groups of stony coral called polyps, a home to thousands of under-water species.
These warm, shallow, clear reefs are known as “rainforests of the sea”.
Although the marine environments only make up 0.1% of the earth’s surface, the reefs provide 25% of all marine species. These include fish, worms, crustaceans, sponges, molluscs and echinoderms (for example starfish and sea urchins).
Coral reefs absorb wave energy which protects shorelines.
The reef is a fragile ecosystem as they are sensitive to water temperature.

5. Acidification
There are many threats to the coral reefs; over fishing, heavy tourism levels, and coral mining all increase damage to the ecosystem.
Rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere also causes damage.
Although our modern atmosphere has just 0.04% of Co2, oceans end up absorbing about a quarter of this gas that we emit.
Acidity levels have increased as a result; the ocean’s PH was 8.1 in the mid-18th century, but this has dropped to 8.0.
This means that in 250 years, oceans globally have had a 26% increase in acidity!
This process is called acidification.

6. As a result of this acidification, coral absorbs less effectively calcium carbonate which helps maintain their structure and skeleton. This means the reefs are dissolving. Corals are becoming damaged and destroyed, and fragile ecosystems are harmed. Habitats are falling apart.