Manzello, D. P.

Coral reef damage 'is most likely climate change rearing its ugly head'

2014

Local10.com

"As a research oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Miami, Manzello discusses how ocean acidification and changes in water temperature are threatening coral reef ecosystems in this Op-Ed article. "Both heat stress that causes bleaching and acidification are linked to climate change, but they are two different things. Bleaching is a response to warm water, whereas acidification is the increase in seawater acidity. They are related but not the same." Since the industrial revolution, the oceans have absorbed between one-quarter to one-third of all carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. This uptake causes ocean acidification. Not a single coral reef region on the planet has escaped the impact of warm water bleaching. Because warm water impairs coral immune systems, the incidence of disease was already elevated. And the incidents have increased dramatically over the past 30 years. Scientists were taking surveys to determine the extent of the bleaching and will be documenting incidence of disease and mortality when the heat-stress subsides. This will take several months."

National Coral Reef Monitoring Plan (NCRMP); climatic monitoring

FY2014 CRCP Project ID 743; Project Title: National Coral Reef Monitoring Plan (NCRMP) Implementation (Climatic Monitoring); Principal Investigator: Jessica Morgan