Coral Reef Bleaching
Have you heard of coral reef bleaching? Coral reef bleaching occurs when high water temperatures kill the tiny organisms that live inside the coral structures. This causes the coral to lose its color and become a ghost white color. The coral can gain its color back however that takes lots of time, and we are running out of time.
What Coral Reef Bleaching Is Doing To The Great Barrier Reef?
The biggest coral reef in the world/ the Great Barrier Reef now has less color than the Caribbeans.
The great barrier reef just experienced its third mass bleaching over a course of five years. This one is said to have been its most widespread bleaching that has ever happened.
The Great Barrier Reef has lost half of its coral in the past forty years because of the water temperatures rising.
Why Are The Water Temperatures Rising?
The water temperatures are rising due to humans. Our cars, trains, houses, airplanes, and factories are putting off harmful emissions into our atmosphere. Those emissions are putting off the heat and the heat is getting trapped in our atmosphere, very little of those emissions are able to escape the atmosphere. This is causing other bad things to happen like our glaciers are melting.
What Will Happen If Things Do Not Change?
Scientists predict that if we do not handle climate change soon all of the coral reefs will be dead by 2100.
Our coral reefs manage how much co2 there i
s in our oceans, without them there would be too much co2 in the oceans and that would affect the whole world.
Our coral reefs have thousands of species living in them. These species rely on the reefs, without them they would die, and we would have thousands of marine animals go extinct.
How We Are Helping Restore The Great Barrier Reef & Other Reefs
Researchers have found that if you help restore one small part of the reef it will help other parts of the reef meaning it is all connected. This is good and bad, it’s good because that means we can restore the reef faster, but it’s bad because that means the reef could also die faster if we don’t do something soon. Divers are also going down to the reefs and doing coral transplants giving the reefs another chance to thrive. We are also trying to reduce the number of emissions that are going into the atmosphere by having electric cars and trains.
