Coral reefs are a touristic attraction in many countries including Australia, the Red Sea and the Caribbean Islands. Their preservation is crucial for many forms of marine life which will become endangered or extinguished if coral reefs are destroyed. It is estimated that reef fish and mollusks feed between 30 to 40 million people yearly. while an overall of 500 million somehow depend on them. Food availability has increasingly turned into a global issue and reducing resources will only worsen the current situation.
Coral reefs result from the secretion of corals and are underwater structures whose main component is calcium carbonate (CaCO3). One of the major problems these structures are facing is the decreasing pH of oceanic water as more carbon dioxide resulting from anthropogenic activities dissolves in it. Since the Industrial Revolution the pH of seawater has decreased in 0.1units but recent studies provide solid evidence that this problem is becoming increasingly worrying. The ocean has never experienced such a rapid acidification. By the end of this century,if concentrations of carbon dioxide continue to rise exponentially, we may expect to see changes in pH that are three times greater and 100 times faster than those experienced during the transitions from glacial to interglacial periods.