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Of all the threats coral reefs face, climate change is the greatest. The scientific evidence is clear that the Earth's atmosphere and ocean are warming, mostly because of greenhouse gases from human activities — and because the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide from the air, climate change is also ocean change. That absorption has slowed global warming, but it is altering the chemistry of seawater.
Heat, disease and acid
As temperatures rise, mass coral bleaching and outbreaks of infectious disease are becoming more frequent. At the same time, carbon dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere is lowering the ocean's pH — a process called ocean acidification — and has already begun to slow calcification in reef-building organisms and the creatures that live among them.
Every way climate change reaches a reef
| Change | What it does to reefs |
|---|---|
| A warming ocean | thermal stress that contributes to bleaching and infectious disease |
| Sea level rise | more sediment for reefs near land-based sources, which can smother coral |
| Changing storm patterns | stronger and more frequent storms that can destroy reefs |
| Changing rainfall | more runoff of fresh water, sediment and pollutants, feeding algal blooms and clouding the water so less light gets through |
| Altered ocean currents | changes in connections between reefs and in temperatures, leaving corals short of food and hampering the spread of coral larvae |
| Ocean acidification | lower pH, which slows coral growth and weakens coral structure |
Together, these impacts change how reef ecosystems work — and the goods and services they provide to people around the globe.
Where the greenhouse gases come from
Burning fossil fuels for heat and energy, making some industrial products, raising livestock, fertilizing crops and cutting down forests all add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
How you can help
To shrink your carbon footprint: drive less; reduce, reuse and recycle; buy energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs; and print less, download more and use less water.
To help reefs directly: use fewer lawn and garden chemicals, never dump household chemicals into storm drains, choose sustainable seafood (FishWatch.gov), learn good reef etiquette and follow it in the water, and volunteer for beach and waterway cleanups.
Sources
Based on "How does climate change affect coral reefs?" from NOAA's National Ocean Service, a work of the United States government in the public domain.
Licens: CC0 1.0 (allmän egendom) · Bearbetat efter oceanservice.noaa.gov
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