Kathleen M. Morrow

This video documents my adventures with the Australian Institute of Marine Science, University of Queensland, and Smithsonian marine scientists to study coral reefs living in a bubble bath of carbon dioxide.  Volcanic activity within the vicinity of some areas of Papua New Guinea causes the release of 99% pure carbon dioxide into the surrounding reef environment, lowering the pH within the seawater, causing "ocean acidification." My goal was to study how coral microbes change in response to ocean acidification. This video documents how coral reef habitats are altered when seawater pH is lowered to the levels predicted for the next century.  What we don't see is how coral reefs will change when pH is lowered and temperatures increases... Many predict that the combined effect will change how we see coral reefs forever,