Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

ORCID

0000-0003-3556-7616

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Geophysical Research Letters

ISSN

0094-8276

Publication Date

8-16-2014

Keywords

Ocean acidification, Carbon dioxide, Coral reefs, Coastal processes, Climate change, Anthropogenic changes

Abstract

Physical uptake of anthropogenic CO2 is the dominant driver of ocean acidification (OA) in the open ocean. Due to expected decreases in calcification and increased dissolution of CaCO3 framework, coral reefs are thought to be highly susceptible to OA. However, biogeochemical processes can influence the pCO2 and pH of coastal ecosystems on diel and seasonal time scales, potentially modifying the long‐term effects of increasing atmospheric CO2. By compiling data from the literature and removing the effects of short‐term variability, we show that the average pCO2 of coral reefs throughout the globe has increased ~3.5‐fold faster than in the open ocean over the past 20 years. This rapid increase in pCO2 has the potential to enhance the acidification and predicted effects of OA on coral reef ecosystems. A simple model demonstrates that potential drivers of elevated pCO2 include additional anthropogenic disturbances beyond increasing global atmospheric CO2 such as enhanced nutrient and organic matter inputs.

DOI

10.1002/2014GL060849

Volume

41

Issue

15

First Page

5538

Last Page

5546

Comments

©2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Additional Comments

Australian Research Council grant #s: LP100200732, DP110103638

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