Hank Green recently did a good video on coral reefs with the thesis that coral reefs are not doomed by anthropogenic climate change. Rather, climate change is one component of what is essentially a multi-front war that humanity is unwittingly staging on our coral reefs that also includes overfishing, habitat destruction/disturbance, and pollution.
He brings on an advocate for reef restoration from the Coral Reef Alliance who mentions that some reefs have adapted to changing ocean conditions and provides examples of programs that help shelter reefs so that those better adapted coral species can spread.
Assuming that this story is true, is it posible that evolutionary pressure sees most coral species replaced by species that can withstand higher temperatures?
Centigonal · 3h ago
Yes, if there is enough time for them to adapt to rising heat, ocean acidification due to dissolved CO2, and changing ecologies.
He brings on an advocate for reef restoration from the Coral Reef Alliance who mentions that some reefs have adapted to changing ocean conditions and provides examples of programs that help shelter reefs so that those better adapted coral species can spread.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxZDyV-E5WY
https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/maps-and-charts/ocean-...
We're giving fauna and flora very little time to adapt
Great example: you can't (replace a forest). Whatever grows back, will be different from a previous untouched-by-humans state.
Same goes for a coral reef. And species depending on it, may disappear (perhaps permanently!) along with the coral itself.