Research from the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB), based at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa (UHM), has highlighted another damaging effect of rising ocean acidity. “It was surprising to discover that small-scale changes in the environment can influence ecosystem-level reef processes,” said Nyssa Silbiger, lead author of the study and doctoral candidate at HIMB. “We saw changes in pH on the order of meters and those small pH changes drove the patterns in reef accretion-erosion.” The noted increase in erosion has scientists battling two fronts in the understanding of the accretion vs erosion balance of reefs. Read more here.