Scientists have recently made a remarkable discovery that could potentially help identify the corals at a more significant threat due to global warming. The world’s first real-time system has been launched to detect nearby coral bleaching.
The tool has been created after four years of intensive research. This could help the people to identify the corals beneath whether they are under stress or started to bleach.
Coral reefs are one of the most threatened species of the ecosystem and are the livelihood of many people living nearby the oceans. The United Nations’ climate assessment claims that if global warming is kept at 1.5 C, it will still result in the declination of coral reefs by 70 – 90 %. Mass bleaching is one of the greatest issues to be taken care of. This might ultimately weaken the corals and even may kill them pay away off the shores.
The tool that has been created recently might help to identify the extent of bleaching and also help to identify the corals under stress. Also, the places where corals are available can also be detected using this tool.
Using the models, The United Nations’ climate assessment is predicting the coral bleaching along with measurement of rising in temperature using satellite.
This tool compares different image sets of the corals and detects any color change in them. The color change is the main characteristic of coral bleaching.
The corals live in a symbiotic relation with color giving algae that also provides them with nutrients. But if the corals are kept under hot water, which is occurring due to global warming, they might lose the color-giving algae, leading to the bleaching of the corals, and it is a stressful event in corals.
The tool would help to areas every two weeks where corals are contained and will warn if any coral is under stress, and further assessments are required for the exact predictions.
