The Role of Climate Change in Coral Reef Destruction Essay -- Global W

Climate change is arguably one of the most discussed issues in climatic conferences and political debates across the world. Establishment of the fact that global warming is the leading cause of climate change continues to persuade people to find out ways of reducing or mitigating the effects it has on the earth. Global warming occurs naturally, but artificial causes, which are mainly human activities, contribute to this effect. The release of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide from human activates has led to a 0.60C rise in global temperatures (Walther et al., 2002). This implies that different life forms are affected in one way or the other given the effect of temperature on life. Different species of flora and fauna have and continue to suffer the effect of climatic changes. Coral reef is one of seawater features that have been affected by climatic changes. This has led to destruction through coral bleaching and increased mortality, especially due to the warming of the sea that causes an increase in sea water levels (Bakerl, Glynn & Riegl, 2008). An increase in global temperature also increases ocean acidification (Hoegh-Guldberg et al., 2007). These occurrences destroy reefs resulting in a significant drop in other sea organisms that depend on the reef. This implies that climatic changes are among the most destructive environmental elements affecting coral reef population in the world. To understand how climatic changes affect coral reef population, it is important to consider different ecological processes that occur due to climatic changes, the most common being the rise in global temperatures. Results from Different Studies Investigating the Role of Climate Change in Coral Reef Destruction Evidence of Sea Acidi... ...igher—Can We Do Anything About It?. National Geographic. Retrieved Nov 11, 2013: http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-sea-level-rise/ Obura, D. (2005). Resilience and climate change: lessons from coral reefs and bleaching in the Western Indian Ocean. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science , 63, 353–372. Obura, D. & Grimsditch, D. (2009). Coral reefs, climate change and resilience : an agenda for action from the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Neptune: IUCN. Smith, V. & Buddemeier, W. (1992). Global change and coral ecosystems . Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst, 23, 89-118. Sutthacheepn, M. et al. (2013). Impacts of the 1998 and 2010 mass coral bleaching events on the Western Gulf of Thailand. Deep-Sea Research II, 96, 25–31. Walther, G. et al. (2002). Ecological responses to recent climate change. Nature, 416, 389-395.