Warming of the Mediterranean Sea hampers the resistance of corals and mollusks to ocean acidification
Some calcifiers (mussels, gastropods and corals) protect their shell or skeleton from the corrosive effects of increasing ocean acidification. They can therefore resist some of the damaging effects of increasing ocean acidity generated by the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere through human activities. This resistance is diminished when organisms are exposed to extended period of elevated temperature (28.5°C). This is a result of an international study, co-lead by Jean-Pierre Gattuso, research scientist at Laboratoire d'océanographie de Villefranche, published in the journal Nature Climate Change. These results suggest that the ongoing and future warming of the Mediterranean combined with the rise of its acidity will increase the frequency of mass-mortality events.