In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists have discovered that some corals in the eastern Pacific are adapting to a warmer world by hosting more heat-tolerant algae.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects that a 2 degrees C of warming would kill off 99 percent of global corals. [emphasis, links added]
However, the new study “shows that there are some unusual reefs that may be able to survive for several decades as a result of their ability to shuffle symbionts,” Andrew Baker, a marine biologist at the University of Miami and coauthor of the research, said in a statement.
“While we don’t think that most reefs will be able to survive in this way, it does suggest that vestiges of our current reefs may persist for longer than we previously thought, although potentially with many fewer species,” Baker said.
A new report recently published by the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), using official data from all over the world, found that there is no statistically significant reduction in global coral reefs since reliable records began two decades ago.
In fact, the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s biggest reef system, has registered a record-breaking amount of coral cover.
Dr. Peter Ridd, one of the world’s most eminent coral researchers, said:
“Scientists are being suspiciously pessimistic about the future of the world’s reefs, even when they find wonderful news such as this latest study from the Eastern Pacific. Why are they constantly peddling such doom?”
Peter Ridd: Coral in a Warming World: Causes for Optimism (pdf)
Duh, corals love warm waters and when the planet warms, corals can grow farther north and south. Where is that a bad thing for them? It’s planet cooling which is going on right now that threatens the living zone of tropical corals. Yeah, stupid is as stupid does.
It is little mentioned that the most stable and long-lived ecosystems are the corals and rainforests. There is always a tropical zone while the other temperate and colder ecosystems get wiped out by little and large glacial periods. Why do we worry about the stable regions and ignore the fact that eventually Canada will be wiped off the map by the next glacial period? That entire northern food supply will be gone, period.
THE EARTH IS NOT FRAGILE
We need to remember that the last interglacial period was much warmer than today and not only did the coral reefs survive, so did every species that are on earth today. We also need to remember that coral reefs live in warm oceans. Should the water become too warm in their current location, which isn’t likely, they would move to waters that are too cold from them now after those waters had become warmer.