Ocean acidification threatens UK cold-water coral reefs by changing seawater chemistry in ways that can make it harder for corals to build and maintain their calcium-carbonate skeletons. A 2025 UK evidence update projects that around 85% of known UK deep-sea cold-water coral reefs could be exposed to corrosive waters by 2060. That is a projection of chemical exposure—not a prediction that 85% of reefs will die or collapse.
Which UK coral reefs are at risk?
The concern is about deep-sea, cold-water coral habitats, not the shallow tropical reefs familiar from warm-water seas. A key UK reef-building species is Lophelia pertusa, also known in recent taxonomy as Desmophyllum pertusum. The UK Government’s 2017 review identifies the species in Scottish waters and the Celtic Sea. Reefs and reef-topped mounds are also described around Mingulay in western Scotland and offshore at Rockall and Hatton Bank.
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These reefs provide habitat for diverse benthic communities. Their importance therefore extends beyond the individual coral: the condition of the reef framework helps shape a larger deep-sea habitat. Lophelia.org’s UK overview describes these locations and communities.
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How does ocean acidification affect UK coral reefs?
As seawater takes up additional carbon dioxide, its carbonate chemistry changes. Lower availability of carbonate ions and changes in aragonite saturation can increase the challenge calcifying organisms face in building and maintaining calcium-carbonate skeletons. For cold-water corals, the concern includes exposed skeleton dissolving and weakening, which could affect the structure and stability of the reef framework.
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The aragonite saturation horizon (ASH) is the depth below which seawater is undersaturated with respect to aragonite, a form of calcium carbonate. If this horizon moves upward, it can bring chemically corrosive conditions into depths occupied by coral framework. The British Oceanographic Data Centre catalogue record documents visual and physical analyses of cold-water coral skeleton samples, including Mingulay Reef Complex samples exposed to long-term experimental conditions projected for the future. The catalogue identifies skeletal dissolution and subsequent structural stability as concerns.
What does the 85% projection mean?
The Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership’s February 2025 update says that around 85% of known UK deep-sea cold-water coral reefs could be exposed to corrosive waters by 2060. It attributes this projection to Jackson et al. (2014). The OSPAR Commission’s 2023 assessment also reports the projection.
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- It describes projected exposure. It is not a measured present-day reef loss rate.
- It does not mean 85% of reefs will die or collapse. The MCCIP update cautions that expanding undersaturated waters do not imply the collapse of all calcifying species: a chemical threshold is not necessarily a biological threshold.
- It does not specify the outcome at every reef. Exposure signals risk, but by itself does not establish when or how much biological damage will occur at a particular site.
The UK Government Office for Science’s 2017 review also reports the projection. It stated that seven marine protected areas had been designated for cold-water coral protection at the time; that is a dated figure, not a current count.
Will ocean acidification destroy Scottish cold-water coral reefs?
The evidence supports a serious risk to reef-building corals and their framework, but it does not establish that acidification will destroy all, or any specified share, of Scotland’s reefs. The 85% projection concerns exposure to corrosive waters, not a biological forecast of destruction. Individual outcomes depend on how corals and reef communities respond; the cited UK summaries do not provide a reef-by-reef prediction of damage or collapse.
Acidification is also one pressure among several. The specialist UK habitat overview identifies bottom fishing as a major damaging pressure. That impact should not be confused with acidification, even though both matter to reef condition.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the threat matters beyond the coral itself
Cold-water coral reefs are habitat-forming structures. If skeletons weaken or framework stability is affected, the consequences could extend to the diverse benthic communities that use the reef habitat. This is why the risk is not only whether individual corals can calcify, but also whether the reef structure that supports associated life remains intact.
Professor Helen Findlay of Plymouth Marine Laboratory said in a 28 February 2025 story about the MCCIP evidence update: “The accelerating rates of acidification in UK waters demand urgent attention and action as they pose a growing threat to many of the marine species and ecosystems we depend on.” The statement reflects concern about wider marine impacts; the specific UK coral projection is the separate, qualified 85% exposure estimate.
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