Remote volcano may hold key to Florida reefs

MIAMI - Scientists trying to size up the toll that climate change will take on Florida reefs may have found their answer at the bottom of the ocean on the other side of the world.

In a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, a team looked at an ancient, buried volcano near the Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean where carbon dioxide bubbling from the sea floor mirrors projections for future levels of ocean acidification. The results? A real-world yardstick showing the point at which healthy reefs collapse and algae takes over, leaving a bleak rocky moonscape.