9,000-year-old Great Barrier Reef : Damage from Global Warming?

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2044585,00.html?xid=rss-mostpopular
The 1,430-mile Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest protected reef system. It generates some $6 billion in revenue for Australia annually and provides employment to more than 50,000 people. This reef is home to more than 11,000 species and draws nearly 2 million tourists every year. What attracts them? The pictures shown above. As you can see, this reef located off of Australia’s coast is a pretty big deal, also one of the most fragile ecosystems. However, this reef is being affected greatly by global warming. As Krista Maahr takes a dive into the reefs, she soon realizes the lack of beauty and simple essence of the reefs. What is going on, she wonders. "Besides the extreme rain that sparked the floods, rising ocean temperatures, changes to the ocean's chemistry and the global trade in natural resources — all symptoms of our fossil-fuel economy — are waging a multifront war on the marine environment." Krista exclaims. Oceans soak up about half of the carbon dioxide humans produce, and while that helps lessen the effect of fossil-fuel emissions on the atmosphere, it also causes a reaction that makes seawater more acidic. Read this article to find out how this is affecting coral reefs and the future of marine ecosystems.