Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Coral bleaching: what is the cause?

Bleached Coral Reef
For years coral bleaching has been blamed on global warming...
Oh there may be a human cause, but it is likely not due to climate change
Update Rule 5 (so if it is not global warming, what is bleaching the coral):







3 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. This is from the article linked:

      From the study, the researchers determined that four compounds commonly found in commercial sunscreen were shown to illicit viral infections in Zooxanthellae, a type of symbiotic algae that is found inside healthy coral tissue that aids in the photosynthesis process. These compounds included:
      Paraben;
      Cinnamate;
      Benzophenone; and
      Camphor derivatives
      The methods used by the Italian scientists involved comparing coral samples submersed in seawater containing various concentrations of sunscreen with control samples submersed in normal seawater. It was found that coral bleaching occurred sometimes within just a few hours, never taking more than four days to occur when exposed to sunscreen quantities as low as 10 μL/L. The chemicals contained in the sunscreen caused viruses to replicate in the Zooxanthellae until their hosts exploded, which caused virus-containing seawater to be spread to surrounding areas. The researchers estimated that in total up to 10 percent (10%) of the world's coral reefs are at risk to coral reef bleaching as a result of sunscreen pollution. Areas with substantial tourism, such as the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, are particularly at risk.

      Delete
  2. It's white girls isn't it?

    ReplyDelete

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