Climate change has been the culprit to the death of many beautiful coral reefs in the world. However, recent studies show that it may not be the only factor that is turning these colorful corals into bleak white husks. The study conducted reveals that it is the chemicals that people dump in the oceans that make the warming of the ocean even faster. In the process, the corals are killed.
The research paper was published in the journal, Marine Biology, which was based on the data collected within the span of three decades. It covers the Looe key Sanctuary Preservation Area in the Florida Keys. From 1984, the coral coverage had declined from the healthy 33% to just 8% in 2008. Even though there is a rampant change in the temperatures most of it trended upward on a global scale, the local temperatures at an average did not change, at least not within the duration of the study. This face has allowed researchers to rule out and disentangle any other form of problems that are causing the massive coral bleaching.
First, the researchers found possible bleaching events that included the loss of the algae called zooxanthellae. This is the element in the water that gives coral its color. The trend was that such type of algae dies once there are temperature spikes above the threshold of 86.9 degrees Fahrenheit. Over the duration of the study from 1984 to 2014, the spike occurred at least 15 times.
Second, the ratio of phosphorus and nitrogen in the water turns out to be the most significant factor that has led to the massive problem of coral bleaching. Florida rains have caused the agricultural fertilizers that contained nitrogen and phosphorus to run off into the ocean, and this is the major contributor to the ultimate death of the corals. The increased nutrients in the water, particularly that of nitrogen has led to massive coral bleaching.
"However, this study did not look into the mechanism as to how the presence of extra nitrogen in the water," said Brian Lapointe, a researcher at the Harbor Branch of Florida Atlantic University and lead author of the study. Yet, other research studies looked into the Great Barrier Reef has shown how the extra nitrogen in the water makes it happen.
"Citing climate change as the exclusive cause of coral bleaching among the world's most beautiful corals misses the critical point of identifying the roles that the other factors play in the survival of corals," said James Porter, emeritus professor from the University of Georgia. '"This study shows that the fight for coral reefs requires action not just on a global scale. More importantly, it has to involve the local."
