Red Sea corals heat tolerance offers hope for climate crisis

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Coral science in past years has become the study of an ecosystem in freefall. Coral reefs, some of the world’s richest environments, are regularly undergoing mass “bleaching” as a result of abnormally high ocean-surface temperatures and increased acidification, both consequences of global heating. The loss of colour – the result of an expulsion of the microscopic algae that sustains the creatures – is a vivid sign that corals have become severely vulnerable to further heat and disease.

Half the world’s coral reefs are thought to have died in the past three decades, and up to 90% of existing coral reefs may die by the middle of the century, according to research from February.

Yet the coral in the experiment at the University of Eilat survived, even as temperatures were raised to five, then six, then seven degrees. “They even showed improved physiological performance at higher temperatures,” says Maoz Fine, the professor of marine science who led the research. “At first we weren’t so sure we were doing everything right, experimentally.”

Their results confirmed years of reports from divers in the Gulf of Aqaba and northern Red Sea. Despite ocean-surface temperatures in the area warming at the same rate as elsewhere, coral species there have never suffered a documented bleaching event.

A growing body of research from across the region is leading marine scientists to a compelling possibility: that a large range of corals along the 4,000km Red Sea reef are uniquely resistant to the climate crisis.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jul/21/heat-resistant-corals-offer-hope-as-climate-crisis-warms-up-oceans