Coral Reefs in Florida Keys decimated by acidification.

According to scientists at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, the acidification that's hitting the Florida coral reefs right now is about 35 year of schedule set by the IPCC and previous scientific modeling.

Here's a look:

Forty years ago Carysfort Reef, off of Key Largo, was a thriving, thickly settled neighborhood of corals.
It was designated a national marine sanctuary.
Now the whole area is blighted.  Source: Science Daily via Robertscribbler.

 

 The UofM scientists did a study of the coral reefs off Biscayne Bay and the Florida Keys and found out that due to ocean acidification, the limestone bedrock of these coral reefs were losing limestone mass faster than the corals themselves can build it back up. As a result, South Florida is losing an important source of fish, tourism revenue and even protection from hurricane storm surges.

From the National Geographic via Robertscribbler:

“ 'Lots of scientists think that ocean acidification is not going to be a problem until 2050 or 2060,' says Chris Langdon, a marine biology professor at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. 'This is happening now. We’ve just lost 35 years we thought we had to turn things around.' "

More here, here and here.