kaja
02.06.2021 17:10:01
The next step is to further test the algal strains across a range of coral species. [links]
See full version: Coral bleaching: Scientists; find way to make coral more heat-resistant
The next step is to further test the algal strains across a range of coral species. [links]
"Climate change has reduced coral cover, and surviving corals are under increasing pressure as water temperatures rise and the frequency and severity of coral bleaching events increase." [links]
The researchers believe their findings may help in the effort to restore coral reefs, which they say are "suffering mass mortalities from marine heatwaves".
The team made the coral - which is a type of animal, a marine invertebrate - more tolerant to temperature-induced bleaching by bolstering the heat tolerance of its microalgal symbionts - tiny cells of algae that live inside the coral tissue.
"Coral reefs are in decline worldwide," Dr Buerger says. [links]
The school has committed to protecting the ocean by reducing, reusing and recycling their trash, restoring watershed areas in their school and community, and reducing their carbon footprint. here
Rising sea temperatures are likely to cause corals in Hawaiian waters to bleach and even die. According to NOAA scientist Jamison Gove, “Ocean temperatures are extremely warm right now across Hawaii. They’re about 3°F warmer than what we typically experience in mid-August. If the ocean continues to warm even further as predicted, we are likely to witness a repeat of unprecedented bleaching events in 2014 and 2015.”
w Boaters should use mooring buoys or anchor only in sand areas; [links]
DAR Administrator Brian Neilson explained: “We know this bleaching event is coming, and it’s probably going to be worse than the ones we experienced four and five years ago. West Hawaii experienced a 50% mortality rate, and Maui experienced 20-30% mortality rates on fixed DAR monitoring sites. We’re asking for everyone’s help in trying to be proactive and to minimize any additional stress we put on our corals.” more
Kapaa High School is setting a great example. It recently received the NOAA Ocean Guardian award. Allen Tom, superintendent of NOAA’s Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, presented Kapaa High School with $4,000 in funding for work as part of the NOAA Ocean Guardian School Program on Thursday. more
The less water you use, the less runoff and wastewater will pollute our oceans.
Learn more about coral reefs and educate your community. Do your part to Speak Up for Nature and share information with your family and friends, as well as contact your local representatives to see what your state is doing to protect coral reefs. Speak Up For Nature now.
Parque Nacional del Este Healthy Hard Corals, photographed underwater in the protected marine park, Parque Nacional del Este. © Jeff Yonover
You may live thousands of miles from a coral reef, but the products you put on your lawn will eventually flow into the water system. Research green alternatives for fertilizer and pesticides that won’t harm coral reefs and marine life. [links]
Volunteer in local beach or reef cleanups. If you don’t live near the coast, get involved in protecting your watershed. Find an opportunity near you. here
SHEBA has created The Channel that Grows Coral where every video viewed on the channel will result in a donation to TNC to support its coral reef restoration initiatives.
Securing a future for coral reefs, "ultimately requires urgent and rapid action to reduce global warming," the team concludes today in Nature . Hughes, who also heads Australia's National Coral Bleaching Taskforce, notes there are additional actions that can help promote recovery from bleaching: local protection of fish—which prevent algae from taking over coral reefs—and improved water quality. But giving reefs that chance will require action on global warming that reduces the frequency of bleaching events. "We can't climate-proof reefs," Hughes says.
One prominent idea—that clean water, which keeps coral healthy, reduces the stress of high temperatures—didn't seem to hold true. Peter Steinberg, a marine ecologist at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, who was not involved in the study, calls the finding "surprising and very worrying." This is particularly significant because scientists consider the GBR to be the world’s best-managed reef.
In the new study, Terry Hughes, a coral reef ecologist at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, and his colleagues combined their observations from 2016 with data collected during previous major bleaching events in 1998, which struck 43% of the reef, and in 2002, when 56% of the system was hit. The scientists compared reefs that had bleached zero, one, two, and three times for clues to how corals respond to and recover from the stress.
The bleaching of 2016 was the worst on record, harming at least 85% of the 2300-kilometer-long reef system. Surprisingly, most seriously damaged was the northern half. Being far from shore and the impacts of silty runoff, pollution, and fishing, this stretch of the reef was considered the most pristine, which was thought to make it resistant to bleaching. [links]
The alarming results should be taken "very seriously," says James Guest, a coral reef ecologist at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology in Honolulu who was not involved in the study. "The situation looks really grim for the GBR." here
The only sure way to preserve the world's coral reefs will be to take drastic action to reverse global warming. That's the conclusion of a new analysis of three major die-offs of coral on Australia's iconic Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The study finds that the repeated bleaching expected with climate change will test the reef’s resilience.