Coral Bleaching Shows No Signs of Stopping

The coral bleaching incident which has affected reefs all across the globe this year has already been confirmed as the longest and most devastating in history. There is worse news to follow – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have announced they expect the bleaching to continue right through 2017, as well.

The bleaching is brought about primarily via elevated ocean temperatures. Though there are many contributing factors to the warming of our seas, manmade climate change is one of the primary drivers. This means we must take action now or risk losing these beautiful natural phenomena forever.

No end in sight

Coral bleaching occurs when the algae which lives upon coral reefs and provides them with the process of photosynthesis they need to live and thrive becomes unhoused. This normally happens due to a rising in the ocean temperature, meaning the area is too warm for the algae to prosper. Though the coral will not die immediately, if the high temperatures persist for an extended period of time, eventually it will perish.

The NOAA has already reported that a whopping 93% of the Great Barrier Reef has succumbed to bleaching, while reefs in the Pacific, the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea were also heavily affected.

This latest report projects that bleaching will continue to affect all parts of the planet, with a 90% chance of continued activity in the Pacific and off the coast of the United States – specifically in the Florida Keys, Guam, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

Bad for the environment, bad for the economy

Corals are an important part of the natural world. Not only do they host up to 25% of all marine livestock, they can also act as natural archives of environmental and climate change, allowing us an insight into how the waters have evolved over the years.

The knock-on effect that the death of coral reefs has on surrounding fauna should not be underestimated. In addition to the 25% of marine animals which use the reef as their habitat, larger fish and underwater creatures will be affected through the food chain.

What’s more, the dying out of the coral reefs could also have a monumental effect on the economy. According to the environmental body Reef Resilience, the economic impact of coral stressing and bleaching could be anywhere between $19 billion and $85 billion over the next 50 years. These losses manifest themselves most prominently in the form of tourism ($10 billion to $40 billion), but also in the fishing industry ($7 billion to $23 billion) and biodiversity ($6 billion to $22 billion).

What can be done?

Scientists are working at ways to help the corals to survive, including the use of electron microscopy to better understand the makeup of nanocrystals in their skeletons. Through these avenues of research, we may hope to artificially create and breed corals to replace those which are dying out.

However, prevention is always better than the cure. If we are really serious about bringing the worst coral bleaching event the world has ever seen to an end, we have to look at the root cause, which is climate change.

“It’s time to shift this conversation to what can be done to conserve these amazing organisms in the face of this unprecedented global bleaching event,” explained Jennifer Koss, the coral reef programme director at NOAA. “We have boots on the ground and fins in the water to reduce local stressors. Local conservation buys us time, but it isn’t enough. Globally, we need to better understand what actions we all can take to combat the effects of climate change.”