

Life Science News

Cooling ocean temperature could buy more time for coral reefs

(posted on 13/05/2013)

Contact: Philippa Walker
University of Bristol


The study, published by the journal Geophysical Research Letters, used computer models to investigate how shallow-water tropical coral reef habitats may respond to climate change over the coming decades. Elena Couce and colleagues found that restricting greenhouse warming to three watts per square metre (equivalent to just 50-100 parts per million carbon dioxide, or approximately half again the increase since the Industrial Revolution) is needed in order to avoid large-scale reductions in reef habitat occurring in the future. Shallow-water tropical coral reefs are amongst the most productive and diverse ecosystems on the planet. They are currently in decline due to increasing frequency of bleaching events, linked to rising temperatures and fossil fuel emissions.




Dr Erica Hendy, one of the co-authors, added: “This is the first attempt to model the consequences of using solar radiation geoengineering on a marine ecosystem. There are many dangers associated with deliberate human interventions in the climate system and a lot more work is needed to fully appreciate the consequences of intervening in this way.”



Notes to editors


Two photos of coral reefs in the Red Sea (copyright Elena Couce) can be downloaded from here:



The Cabot Institute

The Cabot Institute at the University of Bristol carries out fundamental and responsive research on risks and uncertainties in a changing environment. Our interests include natural hazards, food and energy security, resilience and governance, and human impacts on the environment. Our research fuses rigorous statistical and numerical modelling with a deep understanding of interconnected social, environmental and engineered systems - past, present and future. We seek to engage wider society - listening to, exploring with, and challenging our stakeholders to develop a shared response to twenty-first century challenges.



Source: Eurek Alert