Ocean acidification endangers coral in every ocean. But researchers have recently discovered unusual reefs in Palau that are thriving in increasingly acidified waters.
Ocean acidification occurs when carbon emitted by human activities mixes with ocean waters. This decreases carbonate ions in the water, which coral and other organisms need to form their protective shells.
Yet in 2012, researchers working in the waters off Palau identified coral reefs that were both extremely acidified and very healthy. What's different about these reefs, said Kathryn Shamberger, an oceanographer at Texas A&M University, is that the waters became acidified through natural means.
“The growth of the reef itself and the breathing of the organisms on the reef,” not man-made emissions, added carbon to the water, she said.
In a typical reef these products would be flushed out before they could have much effect. But the waters in Palau pool around its many small islands.
Might reefs suffering from man-made acidification survive as well as these? Dr. Shamberger and others are trying to figure that out.