{"474511":{"#nid":"474511","#data":{"type":"news","title":"El Ni\u00f1o Warming Causes Significant Coral Damage in Central Pacific","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECurrent El Ni\u00f1o conditions in the Pacific Ocean have created high water temperatures that are seriously damaging coral reefs, including those on Christmas Island, which may be the epicenter for what could become a global coral bleaching event.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology recently returned from the Island and are reporting that 50 to 90 percent of corals they saw were bleached and as many as 30 percent were already dead at some sites. The situation could worsen as water temperatures remain well above normal into the early months of 2016.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis El Ni\u00f1o event is driving one of the three largest global scale bleaching events on record,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.eas.gatech.edu\/people\/Kim_Cobb\u0022\u003EKim Cobb\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E who has studied long-term El Ni\u00f1o conditions. \u201cOcean temperatures exceeded the threshold for healthy corals back in the summer, and are continuing to warm. Bleaching occurs when temperatures exceed a threshold that is function of the amount of warming, as well as the length of time at that temperature.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBleaching is an outward sign of stress on the corals, which release the symbiotic algae that normally help provide them with energy to sustain their metabolism during prolonged episodes of warm ocean temperatures. The loss of these alga turns the coral colonies white, and opens them to disease and death. Bleached corals can recover if water temperatures return to normal, but continued stress could lead to widespread coral death, Cobb said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECobb has studied reef systems on Christmas Island for 18 years, and recently returned from a two-week visit to the area. She and other researchers measured water temperatures of 31 degrees Celsius, (88 degrees Fahrenheit), well above normal water temperatures of 27 degrees Celsius (81 degrees Fahrenheit).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere\u2019s an astounding amount of warming at this particular site,\u201d said Cobb. \u201cThese reefs are under dramatic stress which is leading to severe coral loss. It will take years for these reefs to recover.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESome coral species are more sensitive to thermal stress than others, and the researchers saw responses that varied from mild bleaching in some species to coral death in others. If the high temperatures continue as projected, species that have been only mildly affected so far may be pushed toward 100 percent bleaching, while species already bleached may be killed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe last time water temperatures reached such levels was during the 1997-98 El Ni\u00f1o event, which was the largest ever recorded \u2013 until now. Until the current record-breaking El Ni\u00f1o event, the Christmas Island reefs had been thriving and healthy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers are planning to return to Christmas Island in March to assess the full impact of the damage. Cobb says the disaster will provide a unique opportunity to study the long-term ecological impacts of major bleaching events, which could become more frequent as the Earth warms.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are determined to turn this environmental catastrophe into a scientific gold mine by being out there before, during, and after this event to document what is going on at this reef,\u201d she explained. \u201cThere is incredible interest in understanding how reefs recover from an event of this scale. If you fast-forward 50 years, this may be what a majority of the coral reefs around the world will be experiencing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInformation gathered may help project how reefs will stand up to rising sea temperatures and increasing acidification, both caused by rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. In the March trip, Cobb\u2019s group plans to work with a research team led by marine ecologist Julia Baum from the University of Victoria.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe El Ni\u00f1o Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a cycle of warm and cold temperatures that occurs naturally in the central Pacific approximately two to seven years. By studying fossil coral records from Christmas Island, Cobb and her research team have seen evidence of these cycles back at least 7,000 years. However, there is increasing evidence that El Ni\u00f1o events have changed in the past few decades.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s clear from the data that El Ni\u00f1os have been strengthening in the recent past,\u201d said Cobb. \u201cEven without considering the current event, we have already documented that the recent spate of large El Ni\u00f1o events in the late 20th century stands out against a background of natural oscillations embedded in the coral records.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile her work alone cannot demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship between strengthening El Ni\u00f1o events and global warming, Cobb says that the combination of many different studies suggests that the rise in carbon dioxide levels is a major factor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThough associated with the Pacific, El Ni\u00f1o events have worldwide impacts. In the United States, for instance, the strong El Ni\u00f1o is expected to help make this winter\u2019s weather cooler and wetter than normal in the South, and warmer than normal in the North.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECoral reefs are important to the people who live in the Pacific area because they provide a nursery for fish and other aquatic life that provide a food source. The reefs also protect low-lying islands from storms and high waves. But their impact is global.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFrom an ecological perspective, they are the nurseries of the global oceans,\u201d Cobb said. \u201cThe loss of this habitat will have vast implications for ocean ecosystems and ocean services that we depend on, not just for the Christmas Island area, but on a global scale.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECurrent El Ni\u00f1o conditions in the Pacific Ocean have created high water temperatures that are seriously damaging coral reefs, including those on Christmas Island, which may be the epicenter for what could become a global coral bleaching event.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Current El Ni\u00f1o conditions in the Pacific Ocean are seriously damaging coral reefs."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-12-01 11:43:06","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:08","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-12-01T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2015-12-01T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"474501":{"id":"474501","type":"image","title":"Placing logging devices","body":null,"created":"1449257202","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 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