Join Lara and her team on a journey to one of the world's most beautiful coral reefs. Learn how WWF is studying this environment and its role as an indicator of the effects of climate change.
Mangroves you say?
Heading to Fiji we are thinking about mangroves. When they are able to flourish, they provide many benefits and uses for ecosystems and people. In fact mangroves even create land by capturing sediment in their roots. This process makes them very beneficial, especially in the face of climate change. Unfortunately, in Fiji they have been cleared for building material, firewood and to make way for coastal development.
Mangroves may also benefit coral reefs, one of the first ecosystems that scientists noticed responding to climate change. Inside the corals' tissue are tiny plants or algae, called zooxanthellae. These give the corals their colors, browns, greens, even blue and orange. Like plants everywhere, they photosynthesize and harvest energy from the sun. They share this energy with the coral animal in which they live. However, when environmental conditions become unfavorable the coral lose the zooxanthellae and appear white. This is called coral bleaching.
Most bleaching can be attributed to elevated sea temperatures. As we warm the air around us, we also warm the seas. A temperature increase of as little as 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit above the maximum monthly temperature can induce bleaching. An elevation of this amount for a bit longer can cause the bleached coral to die. We are also finding that coral reefs that have bleached become more susceptible to disease which can also lead their untimely death.
The planet has already warmed 1.26 degrees F. Because of the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases we have already emitted from burning fossil fuels we expect that the climate will warm another .9 degrees F.
