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A rise in the temperature and acidity of the oceans that threatens the existence of the world's coral reef ecosystems could
also have troubling implications for marine life and fishing industries as far away as Maine, a University of Maine researcher
says. Robert Steneck, a professor at the School of Marine Sciences, is one of several authors of a new study predicting that
increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, if not abated, will continue to deteriorate coral reefs to the
point where they are likely to disappear altogether in the next few decades. The potential collapse of these most biologically
diverse and economically important ecosystems suggests a global atmospheric crisis that, Steneck says, could seriously
harm fisheries around the world. [Source: Univ. of Maine Press Release]
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