As declared by scientists and researchers, Earth’s coral reefs have finally reached their climate tipping point.
A climate tipping point, simply defined, means that such immense ecological damage is done that it has become irreversible. Our oceans’ beloved coral reefs that have been around for millions of years will slowly lose their color, wither, collapse and finally, become non-existent. This is planet Earth’s first instance of a major climate tipping point — one of our most catastrophic ecological damage events, according to Yale Climate Connections.
Since January 2023, coral reefs have been in a “global bleaching event,” when the majority of the planet’s coral reefs are under such stress from rising water temperatures that they start to lose their color through expelling algae, attributed to their vibrant color, from their tissue. Without this algae, coral becomes void of color, starves and will eventually die and collapse.
This is the fourth recorded global coral bleaching event: the first occurred in 1998, followed by events in 2010 and 2014-17. The disintegration of the coral reefs will also wipe out a significant portion of marine life that thrives within them, as coral reefs are the most diverse marine ecosystems on Earth. Although they only cover 1% of the ocean floor, coral reefs are inhabited by 25% of all marine species. Over a million species call the coral reefs home, but they will soon have to relocate, and evolution will take the wheel.
In Florida, elkhorn and staghorn — two crucial coral species — are now being dubbed as “functionally extinct,” according to CNN. FunctionEarth’s millions of years old coral reefs have crossed the climate threshold — the point of no return. Our Oceans’ Final Collapse: Coral Reefs Reach Their Climate Tipping Point ally extinct refers to a species that is still existent, but can no longer fulfill its ecological role nor contribute to its respective ecosystem. Elkhorn coral is a species of the Caribbean coral reefs, one of the most dominant and a big contributor to the extensive structure of the Caribbean reefs. It formed “thickets,” which are dense habitats that shallow water species have relied on for thousands of years.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “The greatest threats to elkhorn coral are disease and ocean warming, which causes the corals to release the algae that live in their tissue and provide them food, usually causing death.”
According to researchers, up to 90% of the world’s coral reefs will be gone by 2050. No more action is viable to be taken, as the reefs have been starved for too long.
