Anonymous. (2019, October 15). Storms Shield Guam From Coral Bleaching. Retrieved November 11, 2019, from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/storms-shield-guam-cor al-bleaching-191015131242150.html
Contrary to the popular belief in the scientific community regarding Guam’s coral reefs, the corals did not experience the expected mass bleaching that was predicted. This was a result of stormy weather that lowered water temperatures, partially due to cloud cover, but also when storms and wind exchanged hot water in shallow areas for cool water from deeper ocean. Coral paling, the precursor to coral bleaching, has still occurred, but not in massive numbers. Despite this good news, the vulnerable coral reefs are still at risk from overfishing, pollution, physical damage from groundings, and human influence.
This article was much more uplifting than previous ones, even if its success was centered around a wild stroke of luck. It’s a bit ironic to think that the increased number (and/or intensity) of storms due to climate change has, in a way, helped solve some of the problems that it has caused. I think I’d like to look further into how likely this trend is to continue, and if it has happened elsewhere, with a similar effect.
This article is a brief ray of hope in climate change. Unfortunately, as the author stated, it is solely due to dumb luck. The increased ocean temperatures are worsening this. If we can lower ocean temperatures we can decrease the impacts of coral bleaching. However, there are still numerous dangers to coral reefs that we must combat in order to protect our ocean ecosystems.
There are still numerous dangers to coral reefs that we must combat in order to protect our ocean ecosystems. I agree with the author when they say this is luck but is is a step in the right direction for climate change.
Hey everyone, thanks for reading my review. If humans aren’t inclined to act accordingly, hopefully nature will throw a few more lucky occurrences our way!