Although the increase in sea level can increase the growth rate of coral reefs, climate change is hurting the underwater gardens of the sea. The warming waters can contribute to the bleaching of coral reefs. The increased solar irradiance and ultra violet radiation also contribute to the elevated ocean surface temperatures. This a process in which the plants that live on and nourish the coral are lost, and without these plants, coral can die in a matter of weeks. This has become a growing concern, as coral reefs are also under threat from ocean acidification as a result of long-term emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. All the carbon dioxide that the ocean absorbs then forms the corrosive carbonic acid. "It's probably one of the first ecosystems, together with maybe mountain systems, that show a global change in response to climate change," said Jerker Tamelander, a specialist in the conservation group's Indian Ocean Marine Program. Human activities are the main source of the problem for the coral reefs, but much of human activity is producing the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide. The ocean's uptake of carbon dioxide is having negative impacts on the biology and chemistry of the oceans. Unfortunately it might be time to start thinking about going to see the coral while it is still there. "It warns us of future change. It also gives us an opportunity, it gives us a testing ground and methods for ensuring adaptation, for ensuring that the systems don't degrade any further," Tamelander said at the briefing. Coral bleaching may be in fact the first sign from a sensitive ecosystem of the global changes that are occurring to the marine environment.
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