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Hotter oceans are putting coral reefs in peril worldwide. Scientists are warning that to save them, heat-trapping emissions must fall, and reefs will need more protection and restoration.
2021-05-12 01:36:48 GMT2021-05-12 09:36:48(Beijing Time) Xinhua English SYDNEY, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The world's coral reefs could face mass bleaching and erosion within the next few decades, according to an international team of scientists including those from Australia. Their findings, published this week in the scientific journal PNAS, have particular significance for Australia, which oversees the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), the world's largest coral reef ecosystem and an enormously important drawcard for the nation's tourism industry. The scientists, including marine plant ecologist Gu...
Christopher Cornwall, University of Amsterdam The twin stress factors of ocean warming and acidification increasingly threaten coral reefs worldwide, but relatively little is known about how various climate scenarios will affect coral reef growth rates. Our research, published today, paints a grim picture. We estimate that even under the most optimistic emissions scenarios, we’ll see dramatic reductions in coral reef growth globally. The good news is that 63% of all reefs in this emissions scenario will still be able to grow by 2100. But if emissions continue to rise unabated, we predic...
BY ABC News Radio | May 10, 2021 iStock/vlad61 (NEW YORK) — The fate of coral reefs around the world remains grim should global warming continue at its current rate, according to new research. Coral reefs will stop growing in the next decade or so unless a significant reduction in greenhouse gases is achieved, a new study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests. A team of researchers led by Christopher Cornwall, a marine botanist at the Victoria ...
Time Could Be Running Out for Earth’s Coral Reefs Image Credit: Shutterstock.com / Darkydoors New research shows that the window of opportunity available to rescue corals is rapidly closing. The double-punch of global warming and the increased acidification of the oceans has placed the world’s coral reefs in severe jeopardy. These stressors cause ‘bleaching events’ in which coral expels algae from its tissues needed to sustain it. Corals can recover from these events, which turn their tissues white, but as the period between subsequent occurrences diminishes, the chances of recover...