UK's largest tropical reef devastated in bleaching event
17 replies, posted
[QUOTE]The UK's largest tropical reef has been devastated in the global bleaching event now under way.
[B]Up to 85% of the corals in the Chagos Marine Reserve of the British Indian Ocean Territory are estimated to have been damaged or killed[/B] in the event.
Scientists say the conditions there are worse than in 1998 - the last major bleaching occurrence.
The problem is caused by anomalously warm water, which prompts the coral polyps to eject their symbiotic algae.
This drains them of their colour and is fatal unless conditions are reversed in a reasonably short time.
Unfortunately for the Chagos, the water has been persistently warm for many months.
"In 1998, the temperature that killed all the corals was probably about 29.5C. Last year, in April, at the beginning of the latest bleaching event, it was 30.5C and down to 25m. And this year scientists have been out and it's the same again," said Prof Charles Sheppard, the chair of the Chagos Conservation Trust.
...
The big question now is how well Chagos will recover when conditions calm down, which they should do as the El Nino subsides.
The reserve successfully bounced back after 1998, principally say the scientists because it is normally such a pristine environment.
...
Biodiversity catalogued in the reserve includes - in addition to the corals - more than 1,000 species of fish; endangered green and hawksbill turtles; the world's biggest land crab, the metre-spanning coconut crab; and breeding colonies of terns and shearwaters.
[/QUOTE]
[URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-36473928"]Source[/URL]
absolutely tragic.
The beginning of the end for ocean bio-diversity?
Would be well nice to swim in water that warm tho
[QUOTE=Occlusion;50480212]The beginning of the end for ocean bio-diversity?[/QUOTE]
We have been seeing the beginning of the end for the last 20ish years
[QUOTE=Complifusedv2;50480222]Would be well nice to swim in water that warm tho[/QUOTE]
If it comes at the potential extinction of thousands of species then definitely worth it.
we're fucked
[QUOTE=Recurracy;50480309]we're fucked[/QUOTE]
Yep. Coral reefs are extremely important to our oceans. [url=http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-35914009]Around 95% of the Great Barrier Reef is damaged/dying from bleaching as well[/url].
Our ability to fuck things up is truly amazing.
I don't blame the majority of humanity, I think the many that want to dk something about it cant and the few that can wont because it has nothing to do with immediate personal gain
[editline]8th June 2016[/editline]
Scientists all over the fucking world knew this was gonna happen and they warned everyone but the real assholes who caused this just went lalala I dont care if my grandchildren are going to live on some rundown dump of a planet as long as I have my authentic fishtank decorated with genuine great barrier reef coral on my amazonian age-old wooden desk so I can show anyone who comes into my office building built by me (not really) named after myself that nobody will be able to buy when Im done using it so after that it remains standing as a literal waste of space and resources and everything how great and awesome I am and you aren't.
[QUOTE=Recurracy;50480632]I don't blame the majority of humanity, I think the many that want to dk something about it cant and the few that can wont because it has nothing to do with immediate personal gain
[editline]8th June 2016[/editline]
Scientists all over the fucking world knew this was gonna happen and they warned everyone but the real assholes who caused this just went lalala I dont care if my grandchildren are going to live on some rundown dump of a planet as long as I have my authentic fishtank decorated with genuine great barrier reef coral on my amazonian age-old wooden desk so I can show anyone who comes into my office how great and awesome I am and you aren't[/QUOTE]
I think most people want to do something if they can but they don't go out of their way to do it. Politicians don't risk losing their posistions if they don't give a shit about climate change.
I said it before and I'll say it again, it's carelessness and insanity that's gonna kill us and here it is ladies and gentlemen the key to life on earth as we know it, demolished by recklesness because we care about nothing but greed. mmmm look at how fat my wallet is and how loud my v12 engine roars. i drink environmentalist tears with my fresh lion steak straight from the savannah, just like how god intended it god bless
Let's see if the government puts their money where their mouth is (see [URL="https://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1521965"]diesel tax thread[/URL]) with the modern transportation bill that should have EV incentives.
[QUOTE=Morgen;50480679]I think most people want to do something if they can but they don't go out of their way to do it. Politicians don't risk losing their posistions if they don't give a shit about climate change.[/QUOTE]
I find it fucking incredible that the last statement is unfortunately true. It's a testimony of human stupidity
working in an industry that involves SPS (small polyp stony) corals; I can understand the frustration in bleaching corals.. its unfortunate..:cry: I recently lost a huge Birds Nest SPS colony to temp change in a display aquarium. In this case there's nothing you can do about it, unless you have an aquarium chiller the size of the moon..(in order to counteract the temp change)
So it's irreversable then? Wow, fucking great job people, this truly is an achievement for all of us. There better be some goddamn aliens out there that live in absolute harmony with their own planet so they can teach us how to do it. But I guess we'd much rather shoot them before actually talking to them because omg aliens omg probing omg threat must shoot must kill
[editline]9th June 2016[/editline]
I find it pretty fucking sad how a thread about some shitty rapist and his disgusting father gets more attention than a thread about the complete destruction of all the coral reefs on earth
gg new planet pls
[QUOTE=Recurracy;50482454]So it's irreversable then? Wow, fucking great job people, this truly is an achievement for all of us. There better be some goddamn aliens out there that live in absolute harmony with their own planet so they can teach us how to do it. But I guess we'd much rather shoot them before actually talking to them because omg aliens omg probing omg threat must shoot must kill
[editline]9th June 2016[/editline]
I find it pretty fucking sad how a thread about some shitty rapist and his disgusting father gets more attention than a thread about the complete destruction of all the coral reefs on earth[/QUOTE]
It's not. Bleaching does not mean 100% certain death but it's pretty fucked.
[QUOTE=Recurracy;50482454]So it's irreversable then? Wow, fucking great job people, this truly is an achievement for all of us.[/QUOTE]
Bleaching is reversible. And most of the coral will probably survive after the El Nino subsides. 85% damaged to dead is a pretty broad range, and the article doesn't go into details on how much of that is minor, severe, or outright dead. Bleaching is caused by stress, in this case the unusually warm waters caused by El Nino. Remove El Nino, corals will come back. These current bleaching events will not be the death of coral reefs, but they serve as a reminder as to why we need to take climate change seriously.
[editline]9th June 2016[/editline]
[QUOTE=cheesecurls;50480732]working in an industry that involves SPS (small polyp stony) corals; I can understand the frustration in bleaching corals.. its unfortunate..:cry: I recently lost a huge Birds Nest SPS colony to temp change in a display aquarium. In this case there's nothing you can do about it, unless you have an aquarium chiller the size of the moon..(in order to counteract the temp change)[/QUOTE]
If you're going to keep SPS corals a chiller should probably be your first investment. They're super great. Like central AC for fish.
[editline]9th June 2016[/editline]
Speaking of El Nino: [url]http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.html[/url]
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