Coral reefs face extinction within 50 years: experts

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by AndyL

Albert - Lets talk over the eons not decades... The oceans pH, and atmospheric CO2 levels have changed radically - yet we don't live in a desolate lifeless world. There are numerous species of current corals that can be found back millions of years - if the changes since then haven't killed these species off...

Bollox - show me evidence contrary to what the overwhelming majority of professional career climate and environmental scientist have compiled based upon empirical data.

Since the manufacturing revolution, humans have been the single largest contributors of CO2 emissions by a long shot, something on the order of 150 times more than all the world's active volcanoes combined. The ocean has a natural process of buffering CO2 by circulating it into deeper waters, but this process takes thousands of years. For all intents and purposes, it is a dysfuctional process. As such, the order of magnitude to which the oceanic pH is changing here is unparalleled and, quite frankly, alarming.

For sure, the fact that species will survive is irrelevant and a sellout opinion. You're right, things will survive, mostly seagrasses and algae lifeforms - the types of organisms that will benefit from an increase in dissolved CO2 and a decrease in spacial competition and predation. Anything that has to lay down a calcium based body structure is going to be severely retarded. Hardly what I'd call a comforting fact, nor an excuse for the world to decline vigilance at the call of duty.