training project i n aware Coral Reefs Under Rapid Climate Change

• Main Authors: Tyler Christensen, Mark Eakin, Ove Hoegh-guldberg, Pete Mumby
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ocean acidification
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.410.1233; http://data.nodc.noaa.gov/coris/library/NOAA/CRCP/project/1195/coral_climate_change_acidification.pdf

Coral reefs are some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, and are home to many beautiful and interesting species. They are also vital food sources, and play an important role in many societies’ economies, culture and heritage. Coral reef health worldwide has been on the decline for decades. Warming seas and ocean acidification are already affecting them, increasing bleaching events and slowing the formation of coral skeletons. We can protect the future of coral reefs, but doing so requires action now to reduce the negative effects of climate change and local threats. In 2007, coral scientists from around the world published a paper in the journal Science summarizing what we currently do and do not know about coral reefs and climate change. In this article, we present information based on that paper in easy to understand language. What changes have already happened, and are they unusual? As we burn fossil fuels (e.g., coal, gasoline, natural gas), we release carbon dioxide (CO 2) into the atmosphere. Before the industrial revolution, which began in the late 18th and 19th centuries, the natural level of CO 2 in the atmosphere was around 280 parts per million (ppm); today it is around 35 percent higher (380 ppm), and rising faster and faster. Many scientists think this increase in CO 2 has already contributed to air and ocean warming – global ocean temperature has risen by 0.74 ° Celsius (C)/1.3 ° Fahrenheit (F). 20 PADI.COMThe ocean absorbs roughly one-third of the CO