New hope for corals to die from global warming

Dead corals have recovered, opening a glimmer of hope for marine species threatened by climate change in this world.

The findings were published in the October 9 issue of Science Advances.

Scientist Diego K. Kersting of Freie University of Berlin (Germany) and University of Barcelona (Spain) discovered the phenomenon on a dive in the Spanish waters in the Mediterranean.

Cladocora caespitosa coral.(Photo: AFP).

Since 2002, Kersting scientist and research co-author Cristina Linares has conducted long-term monitoring of 243 Cladocora caespitosa coral populations . In previous reports, they described these coral populations as mass deaths due to global warming . However, at this time, during the recent dive, the scientists were surprised to find polyps growing in coral populations that were thought to be completely dead before.

Corals are marine creatures made up of hundreds to thousands of small organisms called tiny polyps . They are individuals that secrete calcium carbonate to form hard bones (also called limestone) and attach themselves to the ocean floor.

Unusual warming waves cause these organisms to die hot or cause symbiotic algae to live in the cells and provide nutrition for the corals to be swept away, causing the destruction of corals, also known as bleaching. coral white.

The Columbretes Island of Spain lost a quarter of its coral population due to the shocking heatwave of 2003.

The scientists found that 38% of the coral populations died, polyps adopted a survival strategy by shrinking, giving up part of their original skeleton. Over a period of several years after that, they grew again and began to form new skeletons. After that, they can gradually recapture the area of ​​previously dead corals and start growing.

The discovery opens the possibility that other corals in the world, such as Australia's Great Barrier Reef, will adopt this same survival strategy, sparking hope to prevent the situation, said Kersting. status of coral reefs becoming extinct due to global warming.

Kersting said that this issue needs further investigation, and calls on countries to take action to stop global warming.

Corals play a very important role in the marine ecosystem, which is home to hundreds of species of fish and marine plants.