Algae live inside coral tissue for protection and, in exchange, provide corals with essential nutrients produced through photosynthesis. A large part of their coral adaptability comes from their algae, bacteria and virus commensals, implying short adaptation periods.
Gong et al. obtained algae widely associated with corals in the tropical coral reef areas of the South China Sea. They then grew the algae under ambient conditions (26°C, pH of 8.16) as well as well as higher T alone (32°C) or lower pH (7.81) or both.
Compared to ambient, they found increased growth in all three experimental conditions. The authors write that their findings suggest “strong acclimation of this alga to future ocean environmental changes”.
Indeed, and you will find the following graphs which show that following three years of record coral cover levels, this year’s hard coral cover dropped back down but is still above the long-term average.
“In the Pacific, we estimate there are roughly half a trillion corals,” said the study lead author, Dr. Andy Dietzel from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University…The findings suggest that while a local loss of coral can be devastating to coral reefs, the global extinction risk of most coral species is lower than previously estimated…
“As an example, the finger-coral, Porites nigrescens, ranks amongst the ten most abundant species we examined [over one billion colonies]. It’s also not considered to be highly susceptible to coral bleaching—yet it is currently listed by IUCN as vulnerable to global extinction,” Prof Connolly said…
…the total biodiversity does not decline under future ocean conditions of warming and acidification predicted by the end of the century…
“Rather than the predicted collapse of biodiversity under ocean warming and acidification, we found significant changes in the relative abundance, but not the occurrence of species, resulting in a shuffling of coral reef community structure,” said Molly Timmers…
The ice core showed the Northern Hemisphere briefly emerged from the last ice age some 14,700 years ago with a 22-degree-Fahrenheit spike in just 50 years, then plunged back into icy conditions before abruptly warming again about 11,700 years ago. Startlingly, the Greenland ice core evidence showed that a massive “reorganization” of atmospheric circulation in the Northern Hemisphere coincided with each temperature spurt, with each reorganization taking just one or two years, said the study authors.
So, not a fan of research articles from science journals?
You don’t have to be convinced, just be aware of different research results. That is one of the benefits of this board. Wendy posts about TIPS which I read even though I don’t own any. She has been writing about zombie companies for years. Estimates for GDP growth last quarter range from zero to almost 4%.
Interested in predictions of wide-scale extinctions due to climate change, Willis et al. looked to the past. They focused on “intervals in time in the fossil record when atmospheric CO2 concentrations increased up to 1200 ppmv, temperatures in mid- to high-latitudes increased by greater than 4°C within 60 years, and sea levels rose by up to 3 m higher than present.”
The authors write they found “rapid community turnover, migrations, development of novel ecosystems and thresholds from one stable ecosystem state to another” but “very little evidence for broad-scale extinctions due to a warming world”.
In fairness to db, I saw the extended charts when I read further before I went to bed last night. The gbr may very well move or shift as the ocean increasingly heats up.
Thank you. I don’t make stuff up. For example, most people aren’t aware of rapid climate changes in the past or that deaths from cold far outnumber deaths from heat.
Which results are you posting that don’t reflect your particular view?
Difficult to be aware of different results - and therefore the most representative and thus accurate results - when one only selects results consistent with one point of view.
Many scenarios are “survivable” by many species, human included of course, to some degree or another, but how much do we want to rationalize destroying the life on earth that makes it a beautiful place?
Me? I’m advocating for less destruction of the diversity of life.
And wealthier countries like the US can certainly do a lot more, should they make that choice.
Many species might be able to persist in pockets of acceptable habitat that remain as refugia in an otherwise less hospitable world.
There are many nooks and crannies in the ocean.
This might be especially true of marine species (we don’t pave over the ocean too much or farm it too much, although we have plenty of impacts). And highly fecund and dispersive species such as corals (and a great many other species) are more likely to find habitat pockets as refuge.
In contrast, species with much smaller populations and narrower habitat requirements are likely at much higher extinction risk.
We are already into the beginnings of an episode of accelerated species extinction. I’ve heard people argue that it is no big deal because natural selection will replace the losses. This is true…over very long periods of time. E. O. Wilson estimated that it might take a million years. So, on a human scale, that’s basically ‘forever’.
Most people don’t have the time or inclination to worry about such things. Others say ‘who cares’ or it is all in God’s hands. I think it is sad.
Recent studies estimate about eight million species on Earth, of which at least 15,000 are threatened with extinction. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact extinction rate because many endangered species have not been identified or studied yet. A number of scientists grapple with improving methods for estimating extinction rates.
Regardless, scientists agree that today’s extinction rate is hundreds, or even thousands, of times higher than the natural baseline rate. Judging from the fossil record, the baseline extinction rate is about one species per every one million species per year. Scientists are racing to catalogue the biodiversity on Earth, working against the clock as extinctions continue to occur.
During September 2025, 538 Reef Health Impact Surveys were completed across 46 reefs in the Marine Park. Minimal coral bleaching was reported in the outer southern region and no coral bleaching in other areas.
