www.climatetrackers.net Coral are part of the jellyfish and anemone family and have the unique feature of secreting a skeleton of calcium carbonate. They predominantly live in colonies and these form the gigantic constructions of which the best known are the coral reefs and atolls. It is estimated that there are one million animal and vegetable species that live in and around these coral reefs. This ecosystem is very rich in biodiversity and is threatened by overfishing, a deterioration in the quality of the water and — most recently -- climate change. Climate change endangers coral through an increase in the water temperature and a significant acidification of the surface waters. A large amount of the carbon dioxide present in the earth’s atmosphere is absorbed by the oceans and forms a diluted acid. This acid combines with carbonate, which is indispensable to the construction of the coral skeletons. As a consequence of the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere, the coral's capacity to form a skeleton is reduced. The coral organisms cannot naturally adapt themselves to the increase of atmospheric CO2 concentrations and the increase of the current temperatures. This is because these changes are occurring 1000 times as quickly as during the last 420000 years. Download www.ec.europa.eu