WCS STUDY: Some But Not All Corals Adapting to Warming Climate

[OKIsItJustMe]

https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/10031/WCS-STUDY-Some-But-Not-All-Corals-Adapting-to-Warming-Climate.aspx

[font face=Serif][font size=5]WCS STUDY: Some – But Not All – Corals Adapting to Warming Climate[/font]

[font size=4]

• WCS coral expert finds that some reefs were less sensitive to warming water over time
• Eleven species became less while one species became more sensitive to temperature change
• Study compares extremely warm years of 1998 and 2016
• Study appears in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series

Access the full publication at: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12150[/font]

[font size=3]NEW YORK (May 2, 2017) – A new WCS study reveals evidence that some corals are adapting to warming ocean waters – potentially good news in the face of recent reports of global coral die offs due to extreme warm temperatures in 2016. The study appears in the latest issue of Marine Ecology Progress Series.

…

The study took place in two marine national parks of Kenya. Looking at two similarly severe warming events in 1998 and 2016, McClanahan found that the number of pale and bleached coral colonies declined from 73 to 27 percent, and 96 to 60 percent in the two parks with different background temperatures. Most of this change was due to about half of the most common species that did not bleach strongly in 2016. One rare species was, however, more sensitive than in 1998.

Bleaching takes place when stressed corals discharge beneficial algae that supply energy to corals causing them to turn pale or white and often starve. Worldwide, an estimated 60 percent of corals and 90 percent of coral species experienced bleaching due to unusually warm ocean water in 2016.

McClanahan says: “This was a rare chance to study bleaching responses during two separate times with very similar conditions. Adaptation is evident for some of the more important reef building corals but, sadly, many species are not adapting, so this is a good news-bad news story.”

…[/font][/font]

[Binkie The Clown]

1. Human civilization will crash and burn, but nature will go on.