Hope in Sight for Crumbling Coral Reefs

Coral ecosystems are renowned as one of the most fragile ecosystems throoughout the globe, as well as one of the most beautiful, making them a top activity for tourists everywhere. Their sensitivity to temparature, salinity and sunlight make them an easy target to human hands, with everything from tourism, pollution and other factors. However, according [...]

Coral ecosystems are renowned as one of the most fragile ecosystems throoughout the globe, as well as one of the most beautiful, making them a top activity for tourists everywhere. Their sensitivity to temparature, salinity and sunlight make them an easy target to human hands, with everything from tourism, pollution and other factors. However, according to recent studies by the Wildlife Conservation Society, certain corals are far more resilient than once believed.

While some fragile reefs located in areas of the world where temperatures normally do not vary are suffring due to the increase in temperatures, other reefs historically experience seasonal temperature fluctuations, which may be the reason for their continued survival under the warming effects of climate change.

Most reefs are found in tropical waters, where water temperatures generally remain the same (warm) year round. There are also some reefs near Southern Japan where the waters are also warm. However, in this study, reefs located in areas with more temperature variation better “weathered” the changing temperatures, possibly making it easier to survive warming and further develop new reefs. Yet, human activities will continue the be one of the main threats to the reefs.

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