Coral Bleaching!?
-What causes it?
-What damage does it cause?
-Where is is occurring?
-What is the future for coral reefs if coral bleaching continues?
Answer:
1) It's when the coral dies. It only shows the carbonate shell which is white.
2) Imbalances in the environment like too many fish or not enough, or not enough for the coral to feed on or even the coral being broken up by humans through fishing and coral hunting.
3) It kills the creatures that create the reef. Reefs are actually a buildup of the coral creatures.
4) Its a worldwide phenomena that is particularly destructive in tropical environments.
5) A certain amount of coral bleaching is normal in the course of the worlds ecological system. There is too much of it right now though. Eventually Coral reefs could be wiped out and all the populations of species that rely on coral reefs would be wiped out as well.
I remember reading a bit about this in the papers a while ago. I seem to remember it's caused by increasing acidification of ocean waters caused by the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. As atmospheric concentrations of CO2 rise, so the oceans absorb more CO2, which leads to increased levels of carbolic acid in the oceans, raising their acidity. Some areas are more strongly affected than others (I think warmer water absorbs more CO2 than cooler water, but you'd need to check that).
The increased acidity in the water bleaches the coral itself and kills off increasing numbers of the organisms that create coral. The higher the atmospheric CO2, the more widespread the problem will become, and the more coral reefs will die off.
Coral is composed of two things, a harder surface, and soft plant material which feeds it. That's what gives it its' color.
The plants are very sensitive to the environment. If something happens, like global warming raising the temperature just a little bit, the plants leave. The coral turns white ("bleaches") and dies.
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coral bleaching is the same as when you pour acid on your hand it will eat the first layer and turn it another colour.
If you keep pouring chemicals on it wont be there much longer.
The coral reefs turn white and start to flake off
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