Abstract
Due to of climate change, coral reefs are dying. This process starts with the algae being
expelled from the coral due to higher water temperatures and the animal that’s left, the coral
itself, being left alone with its white figure. This is called coral bleaching. This is not what kills
the coral. Most coral dies of starvation. The animal depends on the algae to collect food so if
water temperatures do not quickly decline to the point that the coral will let the algae return, the
coral dies of starvation. However, not all coral dies this way, some coral die from a live roasting.
In some places, water temperatures have gotten so high that coral is being cooked alive. To
complicate the situation, coral does not grow back quickly. Most corals take decades at the least
and water temperatures continue to rise. Some may wonder, why does this matter? Well, coral
reefs support ¼ of all life in the oceans and so without them, the entire ecosystem of the ocean
falls apart. Some have found evidence of ecosystems that have adapted to life without coral and
some have found coral that has adapted to higher temperatures, called heat-resistant coral, but the
fact is, this is not the case with all coral reefs and something needs to be done to help these
animals.
Key Words: coral, heat-resistant coral, climate change
Works Citied
Lazuras, S. (2018, June 28). CNN. Retrieved from Inside the Middle East:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/26/middleeast/middle-east-corals/index.html
Coral reefs are extremely important to the ocean ecosystem and support ¼ of all marine
life. In most parts of the world, coral reefs are dying due the coral expelling the algae that
lives atop of it and provides the coral food. This leaves the coral animal bare and white
hence why this phenomenon is referred to as “coral bleaching.” In recent years, coral
bleaching has exploded as water temperatures rise. However, one region on the coast of
the Arabian Peninsula has given scientists a hope. Here, there are no signs of coral death
even with warming water temperatures that are killing off every other species of coral.
This reef has been and is currently being heavily studied in the hope that understanding
the genetic makeup of this coral will help save other reefs around the world.
In light of these studies, scientist have found that this coral thrives in warmer
temperatures. They have also found that part of what makes this coral so special is the
algae attached to it. This algae keeps feeding the coral in warmer temperatures and so the
coral does not expel it. In labs, scientists have tried giving bleached, but not dead, coral
this algae and have gotten wonderful results. However, while some believe we should go
ahead and release the coral so the reefs can begin to heal, some believe we should hold
off before intruding an invasive species. Especially without further testing to see how this
algae would affect different ecosystems.
Matz, M. V., Treml, E. A., Aglyamova, G. V., & Bay, L. K. (2018). Potential and limits for rapid
genetic adaptation to warming in a Great Barrier Reef coral. PLOS Genetics, 1-19.
There are some species of coral that seem immune to heating water temperatures and
other species that are adapting to these warmer temperatures. The only question: are these
few corals enough? Part of the problem with these few corals are that they are all very
genetically similar and so very susceptible to disease. Due to this, scientists have been
working on genetically engineering different types of corals with “heat resistance” inside
labs. While the genetic engineering did not go well, they did notice that in almost all
scenarios, the coral adapted within a few generations. However, “despite good prospects
for short-term adaptation, coral populations are predicted to become increasingly more
sensitive to random thermal anomalies, especially in the originally warm-adapted
populations.” Scientists believe that while coral can adapt, they cannot handle how fast
water temperatures are rising and will continue to die off at alarming rates.
Olson, E. (2018, Janurary 16). Quartz. Retrieved from Quartz: https://qz.com/1180919/coral
reefs-thrive-despite-global-warming-say-scientists-with-3d-images-from-scripps
institution-of-oceanography/
It seems not all the pieces of coral reefs are dying. Some scientists have found that when
coral dies, there’s always at least a little bit of coral left alive. They’ve also found some
organisms that have taken advantage of coral death to increase their own populations.
They claim that, all around the world, there are reefs that are thriving, it’s just upsetting
none of those reefs could be well known ones like the Great Barrier Reef. Among these
thriving reefs are those in Hawaii, the Marianas, the Federated States of Micronesia,
Palau, Tonga, and French Polynesia and a team of photographers are working to take
pictures of reefs across the world every 2-3 years to show that coral death isn’t as bad as
most scientists lead us to believe. The most cutting-edge part of the project is the fact that
the team is making 4-D designs of the reefs so we can have a living library of life beneath
the oceans.
Palumbi, S. R., Barshis, D. J., Traylor-Knowles, N., & Bay, R. A. (2014). Mechanisms ofreef
coral resistance tofuture climatechange. Science, 895-898.
In this study, scientists gathered corals from several populations and studied their abilities
to adapt to their environments. In this heating world, most corals are dying off. However,
some are adapting. This study believes that the adaptation of coral will only increase, and
we will never see the death of most coral reefs but a rebuilding. This hypothesis is helped
by the fact that this team also found “fast-growing” corals. Most corals take decades,
even centuries, to grow but these grow within a matter of years and have a fast adaption
rate. This team believes that this coral will take over and we will one day see a healthy
coral reef again if climate change slows down. Even with these discoveries, they still
admit that the coral can only adapt so much.
Yumiko, Y., Fujii , M., Yamano , H., & Yamanaka, Y. (2014). Projected coral bleaching in
response to future sea surface temperature rises and the uncertainties among climate
models. Hydrobiologia, 19-29.
Corals are extremely important to marine environments. This is a disturbing fact when
one looks at data of coral bleaching. This phenomenon has been going on for the last 75
years and has recently hit an exponential curve. In this study, a group of scientists study
several different groups of data on water temperatures and coral bleaching in order to
provide a map of how much coral will be left in the future. In this study, it was found that
coral shows great short-term adaptations and so coral bleaching will go down to almost
zero over the next 10 years then exponentially increase again if the increase of water
temperatures remains on the same track. They believe that coral bleaching will be a
major issue by the middle of the century.
Final Summary
Coral death is a huge issue that is likely to get better in the next decade and then get
worse than ever. This is due to a couple of reasons. 1) global temperatures don’t seem to be on
the decline anytime soon and 2) the corals that are surviving now are all genetically similar even
when adapting. After water temperatures get to the point that even the adapted coral cant handle,
their will likely be no, or very little coral, that is varied enough from the main species to survive.
Some believe we can live without coral. Scientists have found that in some reefs, animals that
usually had small populations are growing as more coral dies. However, it is unknown how well
a population does with no coral. Maybe the oceans can adapt, maybe they cannot. Either way,
we, as a planet, need to take better care of our ocean. It covers 71% of the planet. That makes
many believe the ocean can’t be harmed, it’s just too big. However, coral is a testament to how
false that is. Coral, at the moment, sustains ¼ of all marine life. I want to have a career as a
marine biologist and personally, I’d like there to still be enough life left in the ocean to study
instead of just endangered species lists to lengthen.
Due to of climate change, coral reefs are dying. This process starts with the algae being
expelled from the coral due to higher water temperatures and the animal that’s left, the coral
itself, being left alone with its white figure. This is called coral bleaching. This is not what kills
the coral. Most coral dies of starvation. The animal depends on the algae to collect food so if
water temperatures do not quickly decline to the point that the coral will let the algae return, the
coral dies of starvation. However, not all coral dies this way, some coral die from a live roasting.
In some places, water temperatures have gotten so high that coral is being cooked alive. To
complicate the situation, coral does not grow back quickly. Most corals take decades at the least
and water temperatures continue to rise. Some may wonder, why does this matter? Well, coral
reefs support ¼ of all life in the oceans and so without them, the entire ecosystem of the ocean
falls apart. Some have found evidence of ecosystems that have adapted to life without coral and
some have found coral that has adapted to higher temperatures, called heat-resistant coral, but the
fact is, this is not the case with all coral reefs and something needs to be done to help these
animals.
Key Words: coral, heat-resistant coral, climate change
Works Citied
Lazuras, S. (2018, June 28). CNN. Retrieved from Inside the Middle East:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/26/middleeast/middle-east-corals/index.html
Coral reefs are extremely important to the ocean ecosystem and support ¼ of all marine
life. In most parts of the world, coral reefs are dying due the coral expelling the algae that
lives atop of it and provides the coral food. This leaves the coral animal bare and white
hence why this phenomenon is referred to as “coral bleaching.” In recent years, coral
bleaching has exploded as water temperatures rise. However, one region on the coast of
the Arabian Peninsula has given scientists a hope. Here, there are no signs of coral death
even with warming water temperatures that are killing off every other species of coral.
This reef has been and is currently being heavily studied in the hope that understanding
the genetic makeup of this coral will help save other reefs around the world.
In light of these studies, scientist have found that this coral thrives in warmer
temperatures. They have also found that part of what makes this coral so special is the
algae attached to it. This algae keeps feeding the coral in warmer temperatures and so the
coral does not expel it. In labs, scientists have tried giving bleached, but not dead, coral
this algae and have gotten wonderful results. However, while some believe we should go
ahead and release the coral so the reefs can begin to heal, some believe we should hold
off before intruding an invasive species. Especially without further testing to see how this
algae would affect different ecosystems.
Matz, M. V., Treml, E. A., Aglyamova, G. V., & Bay, L. K. (2018). Potential and limits for rapid
genetic adaptation to warming in a Great Barrier Reef coral. PLOS Genetics, 1-19.
There are some species of coral that seem immune to heating water temperatures and
other species that are adapting to these warmer temperatures. The only question: are these
few corals enough? Part of the problem with these few corals are that they are all very
genetically similar and so very susceptible to disease. Due to this, scientists have been
working on genetically engineering different types of corals with “heat resistance” inside
labs. While the genetic engineering did not go well, they did notice that in almost all
scenarios, the coral adapted within a few generations. However, “despite good prospects
for short-term adaptation, coral populations are predicted to become increasingly more
sensitive to random thermal anomalies, especially in the originally warm-adapted
populations.” Scientists believe that while coral can adapt, they cannot handle how fast
water temperatures are rising and will continue to die off at alarming rates.
Olson, E. (2018, Janurary 16). Quartz. Retrieved from Quartz: https://qz.com/1180919/coral
reefs-thrive-despite-global-warming-say-scientists-with-3d-images-from-scripps
institution-of-oceanography/
It seems not all the pieces of coral reefs are dying. Some scientists have found that when
coral dies, there’s always at least a little bit of coral left alive. They’ve also found some
organisms that have taken advantage of coral death to increase their own populations.
They claim that, all around the world, there are reefs that are thriving, it’s just upsetting
none of those reefs could be well known ones like the Great Barrier Reef. Among these
thriving reefs are those in Hawaii, the Marianas, the Federated States of Micronesia,
Palau, Tonga, and French Polynesia and a team of photographers are working to take
pictures of reefs across the world every 2-3 years to show that coral death isn’t as bad as
most scientists lead us to believe. The most cutting-edge part of the project is the fact that
the team is making 4-D designs of the reefs so we can have a living library of life beneath
the oceans.
Palumbi, S. R., Barshis, D. J., Traylor-Knowles, N., & Bay, R. A. (2014). Mechanisms ofreef
coral resistance tofuture climatechange. Science, 895-898.
In this study, scientists gathered corals from several populations and studied their abilities
to adapt to their environments. In this heating world, most corals are dying off. However,
some are adapting. This study believes that the adaptation of coral will only increase, and
we will never see the death of most coral reefs but a rebuilding. This hypothesis is helped
by the fact that this team also found “fast-growing” corals. Most corals take decades,
even centuries, to grow but these grow within a matter of years and have a fast adaption
rate. This team believes that this coral will take over and we will one day see a healthy
coral reef again if climate change slows down. Even with these discoveries, they still
admit that the coral can only adapt so much.
Yumiko, Y., Fujii , M., Yamano , H., & Yamanaka, Y. (2014). Projected coral bleaching in
response to future sea surface temperature rises and the uncertainties among climate
models. Hydrobiologia, 19-29.
Corals are extremely important to marine environments. This is a disturbing fact when
one looks at data of coral bleaching. This phenomenon has been going on for the last 75
years and has recently hit an exponential curve. In this study, a group of scientists study
several different groups of data on water temperatures and coral bleaching in order to
provide a map of how much coral will be left in the future. In this study, it was found that
coral shows great short-term adaptations and so coral bleaching will go down to almost
zero over the next 10 years then exponentially increase again if the increase of water
temperatures remains on the same track. They believe that coral bleaching will be a
major issue by the middle of the century.
Final Summary
Coral death is a huge issue that is likely to get better in the next decade and then get
worse than ever. This is due to a couple of reasons. 1) global temperatures don’t seem to be on
the decline anytime soon and 2) the corals that are surviving now are all genetically similar even
when adapting. After water temperatures get to the point that even the adapted coral cant handle,
their will likely be no, or very little coral, that is varied enough from the main species to survive.
Some believe we can live without coral. Scientists have found that in some reefs, animals that
usually had small populations are growing as more coral dies. However, it is unknown how well
a population does with no coral. Maybe the oceans can adapt, maybe they cannot. Either way,
we, as a planet, need to take better care of our ocean. It covers 71% of the planet. That makes
many believe the ocean can’t be harmed, it’s just too big. However, coral is a testament to how
false that is. Coral, at the moment, sustains ¼ of all marine life. I want to have a career as a
marine biologist and personally, I’d like there to still be enough life left in the ocean to study
instead of just endangered species lists to lengthen.