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solonavi 13 May 2007 Coral Reefs, General, Global Warming 67 views No Comment Print This Post  Email This Post

MSNBC

In a dire warning about global warming’s impact on coral reefs around the world, researchers reported Tuesday that for the first time warmer sea temperatures have been conclusively linked to the severity of coral diseases that can wipe out entire reefs.

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Published in the online journal PLoS Biology, the study tracked the relationship between water temperature and the frequency of a coral disease called white syndrome across 900 miles of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef — the world’s largest coral reef.

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Scientists estimate about a quarter of the world’s coral has been permanently lost and another 30 percent could disappear over the next 30 years.

Two years ago, unusually hot water across the Caribbean Sea was blamed for a massive surge of coral bleaching, an ailment that turns corals white, and a subsequent wave of deadly diseases that attacked reefs across the region.

In some locations, scientists found a 25 to 30 percent loss of coral and centuries-old corals were killed. Coral bleaching is a different phenomenon from white syndrome.

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The NSF-funded study tracked the fate of 48 reefs across the Great Barrier Reef. They were resurveyed each year for six years and disease data were compared with data on ocean temperature taken from U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites.

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The study found that the effect of temperature was “highly dependent” on the density of the coral cover. Outbreaks of white syndrome followed unusually warm temperature on reefs with greater than 50 percent coral cover.

The healthiest reefs suffered the most severe disease outbreaks, probably because they had the most dense concentrations of coral polyps.

“It’s the same natural principle as what happens when humans are packed together in tight circumstances and they are more prone to disease,” said Bruno.

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The NSF’s Rice said future research includes studying long-term prospects for reefs. “We’re left with a big question,” he said. “Can corals and other marine species successfully adapt or evolve, when faced with such change?”

This coral colony along Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has been struck with white syndrome, a disease whose spread has been tied by researchers to warming sea temperatures.