Great Barrier Resisted Temperature Increase in Distant Past

Great Barrier Reef of Australia image in Pubic Domain

A new study revealed that the Great Barrier Reef of Australia resisted to temperature changes in the distant past, leading to speed conclusions that it could resist current temperature increases.

The new study is causing controversy due to the established fact that corals around the world are under coral bleaching due to temperature increase.

Voice of America reported June 17^th that the Great Australian Barrier Reef adapted well to past climate change events. Scientists conducting the study warned that the conclusions should not be utilized to infer that the Barrier Reef could adapt easily to the continual increase of temperatures taking place in today Eras.

The Barrier –largest living organism on Earth extending over 2 thousand kilometers represents a unique system which has evolved over millions of years. Coral reefs were present early in the Global Geological history of our Planet, millions of years before human kind reached its entry. Today the Barrier is under conservation efforts to protect the complex biodiversity chains that solely exist in its environment.

The new study of an international team of scientists lead by the Institute of Marine Investigations MARUM of the University of Bremen, Germany which bases its findings in samples recovered from location by an expedition of the Ocean Discovery International IODP program was published in Nature Communications Magazine.

Core samples of fossil corals removed through core-drilling are reported to present evidences on climate change and other information which dates back to 20 thousand to 13 thousand years, times of climate change Eras. Scientists puzzled to discover that the Glacier Era and temperature changes of the period did not affect coral proliferation. The conclusion rose that corals had adapted to the climate change and temperature fluctuations against all odds and scientific believes. The team however discarded that corals could withstand the increasing temperatures of today.

“We signaled out fossils of Corals Isopora –which lived throughout the final face of the glacier period. This type of coral is also currently living in the barrier reef, where they are common in shallow waters,” Thomas Felis of MARUM told the press.

Coral reefs require -as all species that adapt and evolve throughout history immense plasticity and flexible adaptation skills but these skills are naturally designed to manifest themselves in very long periods of time. Natural adaptation rates do not usually take place in short periods of time. If they did species would be able to adapt responding to the speed rates of present times of climate change caused by human impact.

MARUM scientists are still trying to figure out how corals could have adapted to temperature changes in such a short period of time –ranging in thousands of years. Strontium-Calcium and temperature was measured by the team. “Each coral gives a view into the temperature of the ocean in the time it lived,” MARUM scientist stated.

Waters then were colder and difference between waters of the south and north barrier could be as much as 3 degrees. Today waters are hotter and difference between south and north waters of the reef is of only 1 degree.

Corals polyps do not only have a relationship with water temperature, which is believed to be specific but have a wider relationship with the water environment. Corals are sensible to a chain of relationships with include temperature, depths, amount of Uv light of the sun, refraction of Uv, pH, sediments in water, water chemical characteristic, atmospheric gases and gases in water, among other elements. This can be considered a relationship of balance. It could be argued that corals which adapted to a 1 degree increase of temperature may have done so in waters closer to the surface or in waters rich in other elements which balanced out the equation. Press releases on the study do not include mention information on the “balance-relationship”.

“We do not know how easily coral will adapt to the increase of temperature today. After all, the levels of temperature 20 thousand years ago were significantly low as those today…additionally the main threat for the survival of coral reefs today, among many others, are acidification, increase of sediments, and human activities,” Experts of Germany´s University warned.

Ocean Life News in Brief

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