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- Importance of Guam's reefs
- Health of Guam's reefs
- - Health intro
- - Reef health tour
- - - - Northern reefs
- - - - East-central and southeastern reefs
- - - - Apra Harbor reefs
- - - -Southwestern reefs
- - - - Western reefs
- Threats to Guam's reefs
- - Algae overgrowth
- - Anchor damage
- - Coral bleaching
- - Crown of thorns outbreaks
- - Debris
- - Disease
- - Divers/snorkelers/ swimmers
- - Illegal fishing
- - Kayaks and other human-powered watercraft
- - Ocean acidification
- - Overharvesting
- - Sedimentation
- - Sewage discharge
- - Stormwater runoff
- - Terpios sponge
- - Vessel groundings
- - Windsurf boards and kiteboards
- Current management
- Recommendations
- Get involved
What is ocean acidification?
Corals, coralline algae, and other calcifying organisms take certain minerals from the seawater in order to build their hard skeletons. As the oceans become more acidic with the increase in carbon dioxide associated with global climate change, however, the mixture of minerals will become unbalanced and the right minerals won't be as common in the water as is needed for corals and other calcifyers to build strong skeletons. Basically, as the oceans absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, there will be less of these important minerals. As a result, it is believed that corals will build increasingly weaker, fragile skeletons, and ultimately, will not be able to build skeletons at all. If this happens, coral reefs as we known them will no longer exist. If the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere continues at the present rate, researchers estimate that the amount of these important skeleton building blocks in the seawater will decrease by 30 percent by the middle of this century, and, as a result, the amount of carbonate precipitation (i.e., skeleton-building) will decrease by 14 to 30 percent.
How will ocean acidification affect coral reefs?
Coral reefs are especially vulnerable to the impacts of ocean acidification because the organisms that build these impressive living structures, such as corals and coralline algae, and many organisms that live on reefs, such as crabs and snails, will be directly affected by the more acidicic ocean. According to the 2008 State of the Coral Reef Ecosystems report, "the rate of current and projected carbon dioxide increase, primarily from the burning of fossil fuels, is about 100 times faster than has occurred over the past 650,000 years and the rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are irreversible on human time scales." It is believed that this fast rate of change may be too for fast for corals and other organisms tp adapt, but even with some level of adaptation, a point will eventually be reached where the limits of chemical and physical laws will no longer allow calcifying organisms to build their skeletons.
More information about the threat of ocean acidification will be provided in the near future.
