Coral Bleaching and Our Ecosystem

Coral reefs, apart from it’s natural beauty provide a variety of benefits to us as human beings. Coral reefs can function as natural barriers and protect the coastlines from erosion and storm damage. Apart from that, coral reefs has the ability to support about a quarter of marine life and can be host. over one thousand different types of species of fish. Coral reefs can be used as a food source for over i billion people, it can provide jobs for local communities and offer opportunities for recreation and tourism. So what exactly is coral bleaching and why should we be concerned?

In accordance with scientific research, when corals become stressed due to a variety of factors including light, temperature or nutrients, they expel a symbiotic algae living in their tissue causing them to turn completely white and in worse case scenarios, turn to rubble. Even though corals should be able to survive a bleaching event, the stress level make them subject to mortality. Coral and algae depend on each other to survive. While the algae live within the tissue it is a primary source of food for corals and it also gives them their color. When under stress due to extreme temperatures or pollution the algae then leave the coral making them very pale in color and more susceptible to disease.

The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system composed of over twenty nine hundred individual reefs and nine hundred islands. The reef is located in the coral sea off the coast of Queensland Australia and can be visibly seen from outer space. High temperatures during Australia’s twenty twenty four’s hot summer created what NOAA classified as the fourth ever global coral bleaching event. In accordance with previous studies the Great Barrier Reef experienced it’s hottest temperatures in four hundred years. The study also revealed that world wide bleaching is being triggered by high sea temperatures and depending on the type and specie, temperatures between two and three degrees above average is all it takes for stress to take it’s toll and begin bleaching.