Nearly 25% of the entire marine life is hosted by coral reefs. However, corals have been struggling in building these huge calcium-carbonate-based structures. Previously, scientists have discovered that in Australia's Great Barrier Reef, coral growth rates have fallen by roughly 40% in the last 30 years.

The colorful marine ecosystems, reefs have to deal with many stressors such as pollution, overfishing, rising water temperatures and changing ocean chemistry. For better understanding of how damage can be reversed, scientists have been putting in efforts to isolate the impact of one stressor particularly, ocean acidification, on coral reefs.

Since long scientists used to think that ocean acidification will slow growth rates of coral reefs, but now a latest study suggested that it could be already taking place. In a new study appeared in the journal Nature on Wednesday, researchers discovered that a kind of antacid treatment encouraged growth of a coral reef flat in Australia.

In an interview with the Christian Science Monitor, study lead author Rebecca Albright said, “Sure, you can effectively offset ocean acidification temporarily on a very small scale. Probably this may help small, isolated reefs; however, such eoengineering solutions wouldn’t be possible on a global scale.

Dr. Albright said that changing the ocean water chemistry would only be a band-aid, and won’t solve the root of the issue.

Similar to a number of environmental challenges the world is facing in the present era it eventually comes back to increased carbon dioxide emissions.

Most of the emitted carbon dioxide ends up in the Earth's atmosphere however nearly 25% is absorbed by the oceans worldwide. When carbon dioxide mixes into the seawater, it alters the chemistry of that water for making it less alkaline. The process uses the carbonate ions that are used by marine organisms for building calcium carbonate shells and skeletons.