Global Warming Help?
a.The internal reef structure cannot withstand a change in temperature
of over 3 degrees Fahrenheit.
b.The reef depends on the surrounding fish that cannot withstand
temperatures 3 degrees higher than present.
c.The reef depends on algae called zooxanthellae that are highly
susceptible to temperature changes.
d.The reef receives oxygen directly from the surface of the ocean. If
the air is too warm, the oxygen no longer enters the ocean.
Answer:
c.
"Coral environment
Like all living things, corals and zooxanthellae survive and grow well within a preferred range of environmental conditions. Temperatures outside their operating range are detrimental. If temperatures are too hot for too long, the symbiotic relationship between the coral animal and its tenants, the zooxanthellae, collapses. Unlike fish that can move to more suitable environmental conditions, corals cannot escape areas of high temperature because they are attached to the reef structure.
Under stressful conditions of high temperatures and light, some stages of the chemical reactions of photosynthesis break down . The Sun’s energy that would normally be used to produce food for the algae and coral is instead diverted into the production of oxygen radicals . These oxygen radicals, similar to the chemicals implicated in human aging, are highly corrosive. They damage the parts of the algae where photosynthesis takes place (the chloroplasts). The coral polyps can also be damaged as a result of heat stress. The result is that large numbers of damaged zooxanthellae leave the coral .
The algae in its tissue gives the coral its distinctive colour, so when the numbers of algae in the tissues are greatly reduced as a result of bleaching, the corals appear pale. The corals turn white if prolonged stress causes the loss of most of the algae. Because the corals rely on the algae for their food, the stress on the corals may continue for an extended period until the coral either recovers its algae or dies.
If high temperatures are relatively short-lived, the algae that remain within the coral tissue divide rapidly and the coral gradually regains its colour and survives. If the stressful conditions are prolonged or particularly severe, the zooxanthellae won’t reproduce, and many corals will die. There is great variation between different coral species, and even colonies within a species, in their susceptibility to bleaching events."
carbonic acid more than anything else.
Coral is a very fragile life form and any extreme change in its enviroment will kill it.
Causing countless numbers of sea life that depend on the Coral reef for shelter and food to also Die out.
The death of the reef is just the begining to a complete collapse of the marine eco-system. and once that goes we will soon follow suit.
Most if not all coral reefs will die with a small change in temperature as well as depth.
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