Example : Climate Change Impacts on
Coral Reefs and Ocean
Climate Change is Impacting Coral Reefs
The most well known example of a marine ecosystem at risk from climate change is the coral reef. Coral reefs are the most diverse ecosystem in the ocean and support at least several hundred thousand species. Coral are extremely vulnerable to climate change because of their narrow range of physiological constraints and close proximity to human population centers and the threats associated with those centers(Hoegh-Guldberg et al. 2005; Knowlton and Jackson 2008). Millions of people around the world rely on coral reef fisheries and tourism for their livelihoods and coral structures for protection from dangerous ocean storms (Hoegh-Guldberg et al. 2007).
Increased coral bleaching and mortality raise sea temperatures (Hoegh-Guldberg 1999), while reduced concentrations of carbonate ions as result of ocean acidification is decreasing marine calcification (Kleypas and Langdon 2006).
Other factors such as strengthening storms and changing weather patterns are damaging coral reefs through physical impacts and declining coastal water quality.
A recent study by Anthony and colleagues found that ocean acidification increases the sensitivity of corals to thermal stress, with coral bleaching occurring at lower temperatures when exposed to lower pH.
Climate change may also interact with local factors such as overfishing, pollution and declining water quality. Coral communities which are subject to stress from local factors are more likely to succumb to the impacts of rising water temperatures and acidities.
Other factors such as pollution and declining water quality, will also lead to a shift in coral reef communities towards coral loss and/or algal-dominated systems.
To solve these problems, these observations suggests an opportunity for coastal resource managers to increase the resilience of coral reefs to the impacts of climate change while the global community struggles to bring greenhouse gas emissions under control (Hoegh-Guldberg et al. 2007; Hughes et al. 2007).
It is important to note that increasing the resilience of coral reefs to climate change will only have an impact if dramatic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions occur over the coming decades. The management of local stresses will have little effect if the underlying problem of warming and acidifying oceans is not mitigated.
What Is Coral Bleaching?
