Karen Weaver's Fight for Clean Water November 2017 | Page 12

FLORIDA
NAVAJO
Coral Reefs Disintegrating Faster Than Predicted
Limestone that forms the foundation of coral reefs along the Florida Reef Tract is
dissolving during the fall and winter months on many reefs in the Florida Keys. A
new study has revealed that the upper Florida Keys were the most impacted by the
annual loss of reef.
Each year the oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and become more
acidic, a process called ocean acidification. Projections, based largely on laboratory
studies, led scientists to predict that ocean pH would not fall low enough to cause
reefs to start dissolving until 2050-2060.
For two years, the researchers collected water samples along the 124-mile stretch of
the Florida Reef Tract north of Biscayne National Park to the Lowe Key National
Marine Sanctuary. The data provides a snapshot on the health of the reefs and
establishes a baseline from which future changes can be judged.
The results showed reef dissolution is a significant problem on reefs in the upper
Keys with the loss of limestone exceeding the amount the corals are able to produce
on an annual basis. As a result, these reefs are expected to begin wasting away,
leaving less habitat for commercially- and recreationally-important fish species.
CONT’D