Here’s a dreadful thought for you to wrap your mind around; By as soon as 2045 most regions of the ocean, that are home to coral reefs, will not be suitable habitats for coral anymore, then by 2100 there won’t be any coral left. That is the reality if CO2 emissions continue to rise.
How do we know this? A new study was presented at the Ocean Sciences Meeting 2020. It exhibited information on how rising sea surface temperatures and ocean acidification could eradicate almost all existing coral reef habitats by the end of the next century. The research was conducted by Renee Setter, a biogeographer at the University of Hawaii Manoa, and colleagues, initially to map out where restoration efforts would be most effective over the next ten years. However, they took the study further and mapped out what those potential restoration areas would look like up though 2100.
The results were downright frightening. Over the next two decades, between 70-90% of coral reefs will disappear due to climate change and pollution. Even if restoration groups wanted to transplant live corals grown in a lab into dying reefs to restore them, there wouldn’t be any suitable coral reefs habitat for that to work out and by 2100, all hope is lost.
Earth’s warming climate will have devastating impacts on marine life, and this study highlights that. Pollution, as harmful as it is, pales in comparison to climate change. Emission-driven changes in their environment are more hazardous than plastic waste is at this point.
Setter said:
Trying to clean up the beaches is great and trying to combat pollution is fantastic. We need to continue those efforts. But at the end of the day, fighting climate change is really what we need to be advocating for in order to protect corals and avoid compounded stressors.
Coral reefs worldwide face an uncertain future. While ocean temperatures continue to rise, and humanity isn’t doing nearly enough to rectify that, it seems their fate is looking quite grim – but it doesn’t have to be that way! Our decisions NOW could change everything.
