Geoengineering of the climate may be the only way to save coral reefs from mass bleaching, according to new research.
Coral reefs are considered one of the most vulnerable ecosystems to future climate change due to rising sea surface temperatures and ocean acidification, which is caused by higher atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide.
Mass coral bleaching, which can lead to coral mortality, is predicted to occur far more frequently over the coming decades, due to the stress exerted by higher seawater temperatures.
Scientists believe that, even under the most ambitious future CO2 reduction scenarios, widespread and severe coral bleaching and degradation will occur by the middle of this century.
The collaborative new research, which includes authors from the Carnegie Institution for Science, the University of Exeter, the Met Office Hadley Centre and the University of Queensland, suggest that a geoengineering technique called Solar Radiation Management (SRM) reduces the risk of global severe bleaching.
The SRM method involves injecting gas into the stratosphere, forming microscopic particles which reflect some of the sun’s energy and so help limit rising sea surface temperatures.
The study compared a hypothetical SRM geoengineering scenario to the most aggressive future CO2 reduction strategy considered by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and found that coral reefs fared much better under geoengineering despite increasing ocean acidification.
Read more:Â Climate engineering may save coral reefs, study shows
The Latest on: Coral bleaching
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The Latest on: Coral bleaching
- Australia’s Great Barrier Reef ‘in grave danger’ from ‘marine heatwave’on March 27, 2024 at 4:58 pm
Scientists are warning of devastating coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Australia’s eastern state of Queensland. According to the local non-governmental organisation ...
- Coral research finds bleaching impedes reproduction and hinders recoveryon March 26, 2024 at 11:11 am
Bleaching can suppress reproduction in a common coral species found in the Great Barrier Reef, hampering future reef replenishment, new research led by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS ...
- Can ‘good sounds’ help coral islands recover from bleaching?on March 24, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Climate change threatens coral reefs, but a recent study suggests that playing healthy reef sounds can help restore them.
- Coral bleaching spreading in Northeast Brazilon March 24, 2024 at 8:00 am
Bleaching is a natural phenomenon that can occur for various reasons, but extensive bleaching often happens due to a thermal anomaly, explains researcher Padovani.
- ‘Tourists ask a lot of questions’: Great Barrier Reef guides face up to bleaching tragedyon March 22, 2024 at 5:25 pm
Peters has never seen a mass coral bleaching event up close before, but this summer he’s seen ancient boulder corals that can live for hundreds of years bleaching and showing signs of death.
- VOA Asia Weekly: Historic Coral Bleaching Warning from US Scientistson March 21, 2024 at 10:05 am
Major League Baseball season opener in Seoul. DC's cherry blossoms at peak bloom. US government scientists issue dire warnings about historic coral bleaching in the Pacific Ocean. Welcome to VOA Asia ...
- The luxury developer protecting coral from climate changeon March 21, 2024 at 7:54 am
Run with 100% renewable energy, AMAALA is one of two carbon neutral luxury destinations that RSG operates (the other, called The Red Sea, is also in Saudi Arabia). They’re test beds for sustainable ...
- Australian scientists find coral bleaching in Great Barrier Reef's far northon March 14, 2024 at 11:40 pm
Australian researchers have found coral bleaching around six islands in the far northern parts of the Great Barrier Reef, after a government agency said last week a major bleaching event was unfolding ...
- Corals Have ‘No Reprieve’ as the Great Barrier Reef Faces Its Latest Bleaching Eventon March 13, 2024 at 10:37 am
Three days later, officials in Australia confirmed that the Great Barrier Reef has already barreled past that cliff, and is in the midst of its fifth mass coral bleaching event in the past eight years ...
- Fifth mass coral bleaching event in eight years hits Great Barrier Reef, marine park authority confirmson March 8, 2024 at 2:16 am
Particular concern raised for southern areas of the reef that have not been badly bleached since 2016 with ‘high risk’ of significant coral death ...
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