More acidic seawater now dissolving bit of Florida Keys reef
WASHINGTON (AP) — Seawater — increasingly acidic due to global warming — is eating away the limestone framework for the coral reef of the upper Florida Keys, according to a new study.
The northern part of the Florida Keys reef has lost about 12 pounds per square yard (6.5 kilograms per square meter) of limestone over the past six years, according to the study published in the journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles.
[...] increasing acidity eats away at the shells of the shellfish, making them easier prey for other fish and harder for humans to harvest.
Acidification occurs when oceans absorb more carbon dioxide from the air, altering seawater chemistry.
[...] NOAA's Derek Manzello, a scientist in the ocean acidification program who studied the same area earlier, said it is difficult to blame the foundation loss just on ocean acidification, because long-term coral bleaching and death will also cause the limestone to dissolve.