How Does Global Warming Affect Coral

Coral bleaching is not just a national problem that Australia faces alone. In the last year (2015), 12 percent of the world’s coral reefs have bleached (Howard). Since the Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest reef, covering 133,000 square miles, and stretching 1,200 miles along the coast of Australia, it poses an incredible threat to Australia’s economy and environment (Howard). Coral bleaching is not an issue that is often plastered all over the news or brought to people’s attention often. Coral Reefs, especially the Great Barrier Reef are seen as the perfect tourist destination because reefs are known for their wide variety of marine life and beautiful bright corals one would see on brochures. However, when a coral is bleached, it loses

The carbon dioxide in the air rises due to fossil fuel emissions; therefore, more of the gas goes into the ocean’s water. That makes the coral’s habitat more acidic, which can make it harder for reef-building creatures to build up the hard skeletons. And if that isn 't bad enough, the runoff chemicals from farms and lawns are adding to the problem by changing the water’s natural composition. A oil spill in 2010, caused by a Chinese coal-carrying ship, went through the coral reef, leaving almost 2 miles of oil to mix with the ocean water (Zimmerman). As more and more water is becoming contaminated with pesticides and chemicals, it is becoming even harder to stop the corals from dying.

When the water of the sea becomes warmer due to higher temperatures which diminishes the oxygen content, the coral expels the algae that exists within their tissues causing it to turn completely white. This results in coral bleaching. Thus, the elevating heat stress which results from high sea temperatures serves as the main factor that induced damage to the coral reefs. If the heat prevails, the reef may even die instead of recovering. Coral reefs provide home to a significant number of sea species and coral bleaching causes their habitats to destroy completely and effect the marine life adversely.

“In 2005, the U.S lost half of its coral reefs in the Caribbean in one year due to a massive bleaching event”(National Ocean Service). Another article states that in January 2010, cold-water temperatures in the Florida Keys caused a coral bleaching event that resulted in some coral death. Researchers have evaluated the cold-stress of the water will make coral more susceptible to disease, in the same way warmer water impact coral. Luckily there are things that we can do to help stop this

Coral diversity, calcification, coral cover and coral development are all being impacted by chemicals reaching the reef (Amelia S. Wenger, 2015). If the amount of chemicals reaching the reef continues to increase, the reef will continue to diminish, coral species will become extinct and reef fish will lose their habitat, forcing them to relocate or

Pollution, tourism, and mining have all had a huge negative impact on the reef. Coral reefs in the Caribbean have also been significantly affected by human interaction due to the growth of population and more people living closer to the reef. This is causing many impacts such as loss of fish and coral etc. Coral reefs in the Caribbean are slowly disintegrating due to coastal development which increases fishing, pollution, agriculture use and

The coral was so weak and brittle, with only a little movement of water it withered away into a fine dust of calcium carbonate shells and skeletons. The acidic water wiped out of all the coral to almost extinction. Bothered by what I saw on this trip I headed up to the boat to report my findings to the unesco. The boat ride returning to the mainland I was shocked to find out how much oxygen I used up in my tank, the coral seemed so much farther down than I expected, the sea level insinuate so much higher. Perturbed by this I knew it was all an effect from climate change and we were all to late to correct the damage

Even as the ocean is warming, much of the coral cover will still remain. We will see a rise in sea-level but to a limited extent. Working to adapting and mitigating to these climate changes will prove successful. Efficient land-based conservation efforts and sanctuary management work will be crucial for facing these climate

The Problem: Global warming is influencing several parts of the planet. Global warming makes the ocean rise, what’s more the point when the ocean rises; the water covers numerous low territory islands. This may be a huge issue for many of the plants, animals and for the people living around the islands. Furthermore that water covers the plants and causes some of them to even die. The point is that when they die, those animals lose a source of food, alongside their habitat.

Marine animals are changing their location, moving further north or south. This is a direct result of the “warming phenomenon [that] causes the marine animals to change latitude” (Atikkan). Coral reef ecosystem are being put into danger as well as the

Global warming has severe impact to the world, it melts the polar ice caps, raises the sea level. “ As global temperature rise by up to 9 degrees fahrenheit, this shelf could conceivably break apart, allowing enormous chunks of ice to flow into the ocean…. These chunks of ice could displace enough water to raise global sea levels by more than fifteen feet”(Bilger 61). Increasing the sea level by fifteen feet would cause the flooding of Boston, submerging Miami, and also Bangladesh will go under water. Melting polar ice caps will cause is the death of wildlife in the Antarctic, polar bears will not be able to survive on ice but instead will drown into ocean.

Introduction In order for a coral reef to be productive and healthy, the water quality in the ocean should be maintained. Water quality not only affects coral reefs, but the other organisms that live on it and are involved with the natural food chain. Some of the factors that can influence water quality are nutrients, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, light, and chlorophyll present. Water is essential to every living organism because it helps with respiration, maintaining body temperature, digestion and provides energy.

The Great Barrier Reef is actually the largest living thing on Earth. In fact, it can even be seen from space. The only problem with reefs is that they can only survive under a certain temperature range. If the temperature is too low or too high for the reefs, this causes the algae, which gives the coral their beautiful and bright colors, to leave the coral, and therefore causing the coral to become bleached (National Ocean Service). This is exactly what has happened this year. Data has recently been released that El Niño has caused complete bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef (The New York Times). Let that sink in, the World’s largest living thing, that has been around for about 500,000 years, is dying this year. People need to realize that

Global climate change constitutes arguably the single most important threat to mankind. From the onset of the industrial revolution, greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), including carbon dioxide (CO2) have increasingly built up in the atmosphere, causing the climate to warm up slowly but steadily (IPCC, 2014). NASA predicts that 2016 will mark the hottest year on record. The effects of global warming are ubiquitous: Greenland’s glacier and the Arctic ice cap are melting, ocean levels are rising, occurrences of extreme weather are increasing, including hurricanes and areas of either intense drought or flooding. Collectively, these changes and their direct consequences are an imminent danger and they directly affect other urgent issues humanity is

Global warming can cause many changes in our environment. Polar ice caps can start to melt which can cause rising sea levels and can easily lead to coastal flooding on the eastern seaboard. There can also be affects on the types of storms that can occur if global warming continues. Scientists say that category three storms can turn into a more dangerous category fours. Farms and cities will face new pests, heatwaves, heavy downpours, and increased flooding.