14 DAY TRIAL // A group of researchers in the United States has determined in a new study that corals are at risk of extinction even if their ranges are not limited, or when they grow in densely-populated areas. Previously, it was thought that corals not exposed to these risk factors were at low risk of disappearing.
The new work reveals that our planet's changing climate and warming atmosphere is producing even more severe effects in the oceans than first thought. Researchers determined that even dense reefs can suffer local extinction events, something which was previously though impossible.
The investigation was led by scientists with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the University of Hawaii in Manoa (UHM), and the Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR), EurekAlert reports.
One of the most important conclusions in the research was that ocean acidification was affecting abundant corals most. This process permeates the world's waters and is caused by the oceans gulping up more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than phytoplankton populations can store on the bottom.