Dedicated to ourselves ~James Foster, Kaylee Ollis, Rylee Blackburn, and Jessica Harris~

Mr. Mazzolini

Earth Environmental Science

2nd Period

What is Coral?

Coral is a hard stony substance secreted by certain marine coelenterates as an external skeleton, typically forming large reefs in warm seas.

coelenterates- an aquatic invertebrate that includes coral and jellyfish.

What is coral bleaching?

Coral Bleaching occurs when water is too warm and expels the algae that lives in their tissues, and causes the coral to turn white. Above-average sea water temperatures caused by global warming is the leading cause of coral bleaching.

What is the impact of coral bleaching?

When coral bleaching occurs, it has a important impact on other things.

-it will reduce growth rates

-decline in fish communities, because they rely on coral for food, shelter, or recruitment habitat.

-affects humans, because we rely on coral for food, enjoyment, and income.

Human impact on coral bleaching

-Places impacted by coral bleaching are areas where the water that the coral lives in gets to warm for a period of time. Some areas impacted are The Great Barrier Reefs, Hawaii, Kiribati, Jarvis Island.

Pollution, overfishing, climate change, and touching the coral reefs by humans when snorkeling are all ways humans are affecting coral reefs. As a result coral reefs are decreasing world wide. NOAA says an estimated 20% of the reefs have been damaged beyond recovery. And about 50% of the coral reefs are under risk of collapse.