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: Climate engineering may save coral reefs, study shows
The Latest on: Coral bleaching
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The Latest on: Coral bleaching
- A coral-bleaching event is devastating reefs globally − threatening tiny creatures whose beauty and biology have shaped human cultures for centurieson April 25, 2024 at 10:02 am
Coral’s biological uniqueness and central role in sustaining other forms of life, including humans, are reasons enough to preserve it. And scientists are making extraordinary efforts, such as ...
- Satellites watch as 4th global coral bleaching event unfolds (image)on April 22, 2024 at 10:00 am
On a bi-weekly basis, the Allen Coral Atlas processes Sentinel-2 data for regions that NOAA's Coral Reef Watch daily monitoring program independently flags as potential bleaching events. Then, based ...
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- Coral reef misinformation bubbles up amid bleaching worldwideon April 19, 2024 at 12:08 pm
Australia's Great Barrier Reef experienced the most widespread bleaching on record in the summer of 2023 to 2024, with skeptics dismissing the role of human-induced climate change in putting coral ...
- New Photos Show Just How Bad Mass Coral Bleaching Is On The Great Barrier Reefon April 18, 2024 at 2:28 am
Scientists declared the latest event in March and noted that the slate of back-to-back events is not normal. There is no evidence of any widespread bleaching along the Great Barrier in the last 500 ...
- Global coral bleaching a warning, "not a death sentence"on April 16, 2024 at 3:42 am
The bottom line: A global coral bleaching event designation does not mean certain death for all corals, far from it. "People need to be aware that all is not lost," Manzello said. He noted that in ...
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As the world's oceans experience unprecedented rising temperatures, significant coral bleaching has been reported across the globe, according to experts. On Monday, the National Oceanic and ...
- Scientists warned about warm oceans devastating coral. It's happening at a massive scale.on April 15, 2024 at 2:53 pm
Massive coral bleaching across the world's oceans during the past year's extremely warm water temperatures was labeled a “global coral bleaching event” by federal officials on Monday.
- Most coral reef areas experienced bleaching in past year: Researchon April 15, 2024 at 12:34 pm
Coral reefs around the globe experienced a mass bleaching event in the past year as the ocean continues to heat, according to new research. Mass bleaching has been reported in coral reefs in at ...
- NOAA says fourth global coral bleaching event underwayon April 15, 2024 at 11:48 am
The world's oceans are now undergoing the fourth global coral bleaching event on record and the second in the last 10 years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Monday.
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