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Coral Bleaching Research Paper

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“Coral reefs are the most spectacular and diverse ecosystems on the planet. Complex and productive, coral reefs boast hundreds of thousands of species, many of which are undescribed by science. They are renowned for their beauty, biological diversity, and high productivity” (Hoegh-Guldburg 839). Global Warming and chemicals going into the ocean are causing coral to bleach. The coral reefs are dying causing fish to lose their habitat and wave action is becoming stronger. In order to correct the destruction created by globalization researchers are creating coral nurseries and replanting the coral, but the best option for the coral to survive, is to put a stop to global warming.
Coral reefs have been shaping the ocean and its ecosystems for the …show more content…
With the most severe in 2010, with areas of Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean were hit by warm waters, with Indonesian corals being particularly disturbed. “Scientists estimate that over the past two decades at least 20% of Australia's Great Barrier Reef – the world's largest – has been destroyed, and up to 90% of coral has been lost in the Indian Ocean from East Africa to island states of Maldives and Seychelles” (Vince 1). More importantly, the globe is now going through another coral bleaching event that started in 2014 in the Pacific. “Global ocean temperatures last year were nearly 0.6 degrees Celsius higher than …show more content…
Scientists have created coral nurseries to produce strong, healthy corals in hope of building coral reefs. For example, in Belize, marine biologist Lisa Carne created a reef nursery and is replanting coral. She takes broken bits elkhorn corals that are already more heat resistant than other corals and tie them to metal rods on the seafloor. “They grow like tree clippings until they’re full enough to harvest—usually within a year or two” (Marsa 2). This is working to restore the reefs, because there is only so much marine biologists can do about the global warming. (Marsa 2). “We’ve triggered a cascade of destruction with climate change,” says Les Kaufman, a professor of biology at Boston University who specializes in reef restoration. “But by tweaking that system at even a tiny scale, and learning through projects like this about how reefs recover, we might be able to engage their natural healing mechanisms with enormous multiplier effects” (Marsa

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