The Effects Of Global Warming On Coral Reefs
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Publicado: 10 de agosto de 2011
The Effects of Global Warming on Coral Reefs
Global warming causes bleaching on corals. Because of this, whole reefs are destroyed, causing the fish that live in them to be deprived fromfood and shelter.
Coral bleaching is the whitening of corals due to the death or expulsion of their symbiotic, zooxanthellae. These organisms are flagellate protoza that live between thecells of various marine animals and protoza, among these are corals. They supply the coral with up to 90% of its energy requirements, and in return the coral gives them shelter, nutrients and a constantsupply of carbon dioxide for it to do photosynthesis. If a coral is stressed the zooxanthellae are expelled and since they give the coral its colour, the coral lightens or becomes completely white.After the period in which the coral colony is stressed passes, zooxanthellae take from weeks to months to recover, but scientists say that many reefs that have been stressed by rising water temperaturescaused by global warming will never recover. In 1998 an El Niño weather pattern caused the loss of 16% of the world’s coral reefs in one year. And of course this has an effect on the fish that livein them.
Fish diversity has been reduced to half in some areas that have been affected. Because of the reefs being reduced to rubble, the fish are left with a wide open area; this can meanmany things to fish living there: they have no shelter, so they are left vulnerable to predators, then they have to move to a different location to find shelter, but this leaves the predators with nofood, so they move too. These are just some reasons. There’s a whole chain reaction involved, almost the entire community has to move, leaving a nearly deserted coral cemetery. Some species of fishhave become extinct or have declined to critically low numbers in some places affected.
Because of global warming, coral reefs have collapsed really fast in a very short time. Reefs all...
Global warming causes bleaching on corals. Because of this, whole reefs are destroyed, causing the fish that live in them to be deprived fromfood and shelter.
Coral bleaching is the whitening of corals due to the death or expulsion of their symbiotic, zooxanthellae. These organisms are flagellate protoza that live between thecells of various marine animals and protoza, among these are corals. They supply the coral with up to 90% of its energy requirements, and in return the coral gives them shelter, nutrients and a constantsupply of carbon dioxide for it to do photosynthesis. If a coral is stressed the zooxanthellae are expelled and since they give the coral its colour, the coral lightens or becomes completely white.After the period in which the coral colony is stressed passes, zooxanthellae take from weeks to months to recover, but scientists say that many reefs that have been stressed by rising water temperaturescaused by global warming will never recover. In 1998 an El Niño weather pattern caused the loss of 16% of the world’s coral reefs in one year. And of course this has an effect on the fish that livein them.
Fish diversity has been reduced to half in some areas that have been affected. Because of the reefs being reduced to rubble, the fish are left with a wide open area; this can meanmany things to fish living there: they have no shelter, so they are left vulnerable to predators, then they have to move to a different location to find shelter, but this leaves the predators with nofood, so they move too. These are just some reasons. There’s a whole chain reaction involved, almost the entire community has to move, leaving a nearly deserted coral cemetery. Some species of fishhave become extinct or have declined to critically low numbers in some places affected.
Because of global warming, coral reefs have collapsed really fast in a very short time. Reefs all...
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