28th June 2024 (15 Topics)

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Catastrophic Bleaching Event: 97% Coral at Australian Island Wiped Out in 3 Months

Context

The worst mass coral bleaching event in the world's largest reef system has decimated at least 97% of the coral at Australia's Lizard Island within three months, as revealed by a recent drone analysis. This event highlights the severe impact of rising sea temperatures on coral reefs globally.

Impact of Rising Sea Temperatures on Coral Reefs

Introduction to the Issue: Lizard Island, located in the north of the Great Barrier Reef, has experienced catastrophic coral bleaching, with high-resolution drone images showing a 97% decline in coral health between March and June 2024.
Global Coral Bleaching Trends: According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), over 70.7% of coral reefs worldwide have been affected by bleaching-level heat stress since January 2023, surpassing all previous global mass bleaching events.
Scientific Observations: Researchers from various institutions used drone imagery to quantitatively assess the extent of coral bleaching and death, with nearly all corals on Lizard Island succumbing to the event.

Consequences and Concerns for Coral Ecosystems

Widespread Impact: Aerial surveys indicate that almost one-third of the Great Barrier Reef experienced 'very high' and 'extreme' levels of coral bleaching last summer, highlighting the widespread impact of rising sea temperatures.
Mechanism of Bleaching: Coral bleaching occurs when corals expel algae from their tissues in response to extreme heat stress, causing them to appear white and become vulnerable to diseases. While some corals can recover when temperatures decrease, many die immediately or due to prolonged stress.
Quantitative Assessment: The drone imagery provided the first quantitative assessment of coral deaths from the recent mass bleaching event, revealing a peak mortality rate of 97% in June.

Responses and Future Actions

International Concerns: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has expressed deep concern about the mass coral bleaching and has urged the Australian government to make the data on coral deaths public.
Research and Monitoring: The Australian Institute of Marine Science is expected to release its annual report on coral reef conditions, which will provide further insights into the health of the Great Barrier Reef.
Temperature Monitoring: Current sea surface temperatures across the Reef are slightly below the threshold that typically causes heat stress to corals, but they remain about 0.7°C above the June average, indicating ongoing environmental challenges.

Coral reefs

Coral reefs are large underwater structures composed of the skeletons of colonial marine invertebrates called coral.
The coral species that build reefs are known as hermatypic, or "hard," corals because they extract calcium carbonate from seawater to create a hard, durable exoskeleton that protects their soft, sac-like bodies.
Hard corals rely on symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) living within their tissues for nutrition and energy to build their skeleton.
Soft corals look like colourful plants or graceful trees and are not reef-building since they do not produce the hard calcified skeleton of many reef-building corals.
These types of corals are flexible organisms often resembling plants and trees and include species such as sea fans and sea whips
These types of corals are flexible organisms often resembling plants and trees and include species such as sea fans and sea whips.
Each individual coral is referred to as a polyp.
Coral polyps live on the calcium carbonate exoskeletons of their ancestors, adding their own exoskeleton to the existing coral structure.
As the centuries pass, the coral reef gradually grows one tiny exoskeleton at a time, until they become massive features of the marine environment.

Great Barrier Reef:

The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s most extensive coral reef system.
It stretches for more than 2,300 kilometres along the northeast coast of Australia.
The Great Barrier Reef is home to around 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusc.
It also holds great scientific interest as the habitat of species such as the dugong (‘sea cow’) and the large green turtle, which are threatened with extinction.
No other World Heritage property contains such biodiversity.
This diversity, especially the endemic species, means the GBR is of enormous scientific and intrinsic importance, and it also contains a significant number of threatened species.

UPSC Mains Questions

Q. Evaluate the global implications of mass coral bleaching events and the role of international organizations in addressing these environmental crises. What strategies should be adopted at the global level to protect coral reefs?

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Catastrophic Bleaching Event: 97% Coral at Australian Island Wiped Out in 3 Months

Impact of Rising Sea Temperatures on Coral Reefs

Consequences and Concerns for Coral Ecosystems

Responses and Future Actions

Coral reefs

Great Barrier Reef:

UPSC Mains Questions

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