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Science 13 February 1998:
Vol. 279. no. 5353, p. 989
DOI: 10.1126/science.279.5353.989
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Research News

REEF BIOLOGY:
New Threat Seen From Carbon Dioxide

Elizabeth Pennisi

New findings, reported last month at this year's annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, show that when the amount of carbonate dissolved in seawater drops, corals and other reef-building organisms have a harder time depositing their limestone skeletons. And increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide should have exactly that effect, because carbon dioxide dissolved in seawater boosts its acidity and decreases the amount of carbonate it can carry. If this effect is not counterbalanced by other effects, such as warmer ocean waters, the resulting decline in coral formation could make reefs more susceptible to the other pressures they face.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)