It is also the rate of sea level rise. If sea level rises faster than the coral platforms can keep up, then they will drown. See the figure here [1] for a summa

It is also the rate of sea level rise. If sea level rises faster than the coral platforms can keep up, then they will drown. See the figure here [1] for a summary of reef responses to sea level rise. Also, if the corals die, then they stop calcifying, and then the platform starts to erode, making life harder for the organisms that are still alive... Coral reefs are a complex system of feedbacks. [1] http://www.sepmstrata.org/page.aspx?pageid=345 http://www.sepmstrata.org/page.aspx?pageid=345