In terms of the oceans, an exceptionally warm year has caused corals to fade and weaken in various parts of the world.
On Earth coral mass stress is underway due to record ocean temperatures, US scientists said. The matter has been written about by, among others, the British public radio BBC.
A coral’s stress state can lead to coral fading and, in the worst case, to its death. Corals, on the other hand, are a key part of the marine ecosystem, so their death also affects the rest of the marine life and, for example, fishing.
Mass coral stress has been observed in several oceans: the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Indian Ocean, according to the US Federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
BBC: n according to the first warning signs were observed last year in the Caribbean, when the sea water on the coast warmed to the point where it was comparable to “hot bath water”.
The heat later moved with ocean currents to the southern hemisphere. To date, it has affected more than half of the world’s corals, incl On Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and on the coasts of Tanzania, Mauritius and Brazil, the Pacific Islands, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
Average sea temperatures have been rising for a long time due to climate change. Last August, the average ocean temperature broke an all-time record. This was also partly influenced by sea and air currents El Niño phenomenon.
Since then, average ocean temperatures have been almost continuously above average.
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Average sea temperatures have been rising for a long time due to climate change.
Corals are a key part of the marine ecosystem and thus also of the entire earth’s ecosystem. Among other things, corals provide a habitat for about 25 percent of marine life.
The situation of the corals also raises concerns in terms of fishing. If the coral dies, it affects the nutrition and behavior of the fish and, in turn, the fishermen’s livelihood.
A stressed, bleached coral will likely die if it is in an environment one degree warmer than its thermal limit for two months. In water that exceeds the temperature limit of two degrees, corals can survive for about a month.
Different coral species have different thermal limits. Some corals can survive in colder and deeper waters, while some need warmer and shallower waters.
Newly however, the published research gave some hope that corals living in the cooler and deeper waters of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef can survive longer than corals living in shallower waters even as the Earth warms.
Some corals have also been found to be able to develop different types means of survivalsuch as resistance to certain diseases.
However, recovery from heat stress may take up to years. At the same time, coral in a weakened state is also more susceptible to various diseases, and as the oceans warm, corals are under more and more frequent and stronger stress.
The previous mass coral bleaching occurred in 2014–2016. Since then, however, sea temperatures have risen so much that the Noaa organization has had to implement three new heat warning levels.