By JUSTIN GILLIS
Published: September 20, 2010
Coral bleaching, like that seen in the Flower Garden Banks off the Texas-Louisiana border, is an indicator of heat stress.
Summary:
Coral bleaching is when the coral shed their color and start to go into survival mode because of all the heat stress. Scientists think that it is the cause of the greenhouse gases that causes this. Also, the coral can be affected easily by heat and with the greenhouse gases, that makes them more vulnerable. The coral is made up of tiny animals called polyps. this animals form a symbiotic, or interdependent, relationship with algae. The polyps give nurtients to the algae while the algae captures carbon dioxide and sunlight to make sugar for the polyps. When bleching occurs, the algae are taken out and thats how the coral looks white becuase the algae give the color for the coral. The last time coral bleaching happened in a big sweep like now was in 1998. That is also the highest recorded temperature in history. Even though coral only take up a fraction of our oceans, they still home a quarter of all marine species. They are even called the under sea rainforest. If the temperatures cool down, then the algae could possibly be reduced and saved. This whole process has been happening from Texas to Thailand, and now it starts to reach southeast Asia and possibly Australia. If it hits Australia, then the Great Barrier Reefs could be in serious danger.
Opinion/Reflection:
I think that coral bleaching is big topic to worry about. Since they home about a quarter of marine species they can effect a lot of other ecosystems/food webs. So other organisms could be affected that don't use the coral like humans. We as humans use marine species as source of food, and if that type of food is affected by the coral, then that is one less food source we have.
Questions:
1. How can people prevent coral breaching from happening?
2. Will coral breaching turn into a worldwide problem?
3. Is there another reason for this problem other than greenhouse gases?
4. Do you think that coral breaching is actually a problem we have to worry about?
Icould not find a profesonal but i found a coral reef foundation that i thought was interesting so i sent them a email. It read
ReplyDeleteHello I am a student in the Philadelphia area and me and my class mates have made a blog. They are very intersting and the last one was about coral reefs it is at http://fivepeoplethatdonthaveaname.blogspot.com/. Feel free to look at it or even leave a comment. Thank you for your time.
Timmy.
Hopefully they will look at this post.
1. How can people prevent coral bleaching from happening?
ReplyDeleteI think that it would be really hard for the average person to help this issue because it is mostly due to climate change and the symbiotic relationship of the algae and polyps and unfortunately, us humans cannot do much about those two things.
2. Will coral bleaching turn into a worldwide problem?
I think that it could certainly turn into a worldwide problem because arguably, the greenhouse gases could become very bad in certain parts of the world.
3. Is there another reason for this problem besides greenhouse gases?
I think that greenhouse gases and the way the climate changes so drastically is a big part of the reason that coral bleaching is so terrible. But,also, the sea temperature could also be a component that makes the coral reef so hot, causing these problems.
4. Do you think that Coral Bleaching is actually a problem we have to worry about?
This is hard to say because as far as marine animals being indirectly killed and not having that food resource, i don't think we would have a problem. This is because I think we could most definitely survive on food other than sea life. However, Coral bleaching is a big problem for the sea animals because many, many animals will continue to loose their home.
I think that it is crazy how humans can effect plants at the bottom of the ocean with how we live above land! I think that if we did not burn so many fossil fuels and release all the carbon dioxide into the air we could prevent this! It is our fault that the greenhouse effect is getting stronger and stronger each day! I could help prevent coral bleaching by using up less fossil fuels, like driving an electric car and not a gasoline powered car.
ReplyDelete1.Can coral adapt to the change in the climate naturally? How?
2. Will the coral survive or go extinct?
3. How does this effect other organisms that live near or on the coral?
I found a youtube video of a news story from CBS. The video explains why coral is important, and how coral bleaching is not only dangerous for the coral its self, but how it is actually affecting the Earth. It also shows how a scientist is conducting research on how to save coral and possibly prevent it from bleaching in the first place. It was enlightening to watch and it just goes to show that the effects humans are having on the Earth are affecting everyone and everything.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liG_ZV289VM&feature=related
Thank you for bringing attention to this important issue. Coral reefs are incredibly important and valuable ecosystems, at risk from a host of threats including climate change. You can learn more about these threats--and what you can do to combat them--at the Coral Reef Alliance's website, www.coral.org.
ReplyDelete