- Title: UK-ARTIFICIAL CORAL Artificial coral offers solution to endangered reefs
- Date: 7th October 2014
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (SEPTEMBER 23, 2014) (REUTERS) SCREEN SHOWING IMAGE OF UNDERWATER CORAL / PAN DOWN TO ARTIFICIAL CORAL STRUCTURES ON DISPLAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) NELL BENNETT, STUDENT ON ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART'S INNOVATION DESIGN ENGINEERING (IDE) PROGRAMME, SAYING: "All it is a type of material that dissolves within water. There's no big technology or distribution or a
- Embargoed: 22nd October 2014 13:00
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- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVACF73AL5AWFI32F9UHYBSZV9O1
- Story Text: Environmental experts have warned that global warming is acidifying oceans at a record rate. A 2013 report, by 540 experts in 37 nations, said the seas could be 170 percent more acidic by 2100 than before the Industrial Revolution. Carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, can become a mild acid when mixed with water.
This potentially spells disaster for marine life, including coral reefs.
"The problem with this is any coral skeleton that is exposed is becoming dissolved by the increasing acidity. It's a bit like your teeth; if you were to drink something sugary and acidic then it starts to attack the exposed part of your tooth," explained Nell Bennett, creator of the Coral3, which she hopes could provide a solution to declining coral reefs.
Corals are nurseries for many types of fish and marine life. They are also considered valuable protection for coastlines from storms and tsunamis, and are important for tourism from Australia to the islands of the Caribbean and the Florida Keys.
Bennett's innovative coral-shaped design could potentially mitigate the effects of acidification as it lies in situ among other coral, bathing the adjacent reef in alkaline water as the acid in the water dissolves it over time.
"What I have designed is a set of structures that are made from a different combination of calcium carbonate, sodium carbonate and various binders. And what it does over time, through the currents and the water acidity it will dissolve this highly carbonated structure creating more carbon ions within the water that can protect the corals and, therefore, increasing the acidity will make them more stable," Bennett said.
The delicate undersea structures resembling rocky gardens are made by tiny animals called coral polyps, and are important nurseries and shelters for fish and other sea life. The polyps secrete calcium carbonate to build the stony base of the reef.
Researchers have found that about one-third of carbon dioxide, or CO2, put into the atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean, slowing global warming but polluting the sea.
The CO2 produces carbonic acid, the substance that gives soft drinks their fizz. The acid reduces concentrations of carbonate-ions, which are critical to reef building.
Bennett believes that concern for ocean acidification's effect on coral lags behind other marine issues, and that her solution would only work when the worth of coral reefs is recognised.
"I think the solution that I have produced is very resource-heavy, and I think many of the solutions to tackle ocean acidification would be. And, therefore, it's not necessarily so desirable on the outset unless you start looking at the value of what an ocean reef habitat is worth," she said.
It's the simplicity of her design that Bennett believes is its true value as a solution to coral death.
"All it is is a type of material that dissolves within water. There's no big technology or distribution or anything that needs to be taught to a local community that may be willing to take it up. And I think that trying to create something that is as simple as possible was very, very important."
Recent studies have estimated that acidity of the oceans had already increased by 26 percent since the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries. The pace of acidification was the fastest in at least 55 million years, the scientists said.
Separate research estimated that unless still rising carbon dioxide emissions fall in the near future, existing coral reefs could all be dying by 2100.
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