Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may have profound effects on ocean chemistry and thereby the marine ecosystem. Previous studies have shown that the ongoing increase in the acidity of Earth's ocean — as more atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater — is threatening the survival of coral reefs by reducing the rate of calcification of coralline algae. Kunshan Gao at Xiamen University and Yangqiao Zheng at the Chinese Academy of Fisheries Sciences in Shanghai1 have now shown that reduced calcification may also make coralline algae more susceptible to damage by ultraviolet radiation.
The researchers housed coralline algae in temperature-controlled seawater tanks with normal (380 parts per million by volume) or enriched (1000 parts per million by
