But will they become too acidic so fast that no coral can adapt?
I know we are really good at changing the environment, but the oceans are huge.
I know we are really good at changing the environment, but the oceans are huge.
A pessimistic but plausible scenario has ocean pH decreasing by an additional 0.7-0.8 by 2300.
That's pretty fast. It's hard to predict how and how fast coral might adapt, but those are short time scales to expect evolution to act on.
... and a decrease of 0.7 is a 500% increase in H+ concentration. That sounds apocalyptic, at least for ocean ecosystems.
Warming and acidification are increasing jellyfish blooms, right? Do you know any good recipes for grilled jellyfish?
- coral typically takes several years before reaching sexual maturity. Adaptability to a changing environment strongly depends on this.
- corals typically occupy ecological niches.
- acidification directly interferes with a key part of their metabolism and habit. It's like asking whether mammals can't evolve to a life without skeletons.
Corals are an extremely diverse group of organisms that interact with other organisms through complex relationships. Take them away (or reduce them to a select few species that fulfill a fitness) and you're going to see lots of damage to other populations.