Hawaiian Corals Shows Surprising Resistance to Climate Change Induced Ocean Warming

A study of three varieties of coral in Hawaii published in Scientific Reports found that some coral species are resilient to the impacts of ocean heat and acidity caused by climate change.

These findings shed light on the potential ability of some corals to endure and adapt to changing ocean conditions.

A long investigation of Hawaiian coral species offers an unexpectedly hopeful outlook on how they could fare in warmer, more acidic environments as a result of global warming.

Researchers discovered that the three coral species tested had high mortality under circumstances modeled to reflect future ocean temperatures and acidity up to half of several of the species died.

Realistic conditions provided after 22 months of study

However, the fact that none of them died totally and that some were actually prospering by the conclusion of the research gives promise for the future of corals, according to Rowan McLachlan, a doctorate researcher in earth sciences at The Ohio State University who conducted the study.

According to SciTechDaily, in the investigation, they discovered unexpectedly favorable results. When it comes to the consequences of warmer seas, we don't receive a lot of that in the coral research sector, according to McLachlan, who is now a postdoctoral researcher at Oregon State University.

The latest study, which was issued of the journal Scientific Reports, is unparalleled in terms of length of observation and providing the corals with the most realistic habitat conceivable, according to the scientists, as per NBC News.

In recent years, studies on corals from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have been depressing and upsetting.

According to a 2018 analysis, over 99 percent of the nation's corals would be destroyed if global temperatures rose 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, and 70 to 90 percent would've been lost if global temperatures rose 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit.

Warming temperatures harm the coral species

Between August 29 and November 11, 2015, Rowan McLachlan and colleagues gathered 66 samples from three coral species at four reef locations in Hawaii, as per Nature Asia.

Montipora capitata, Porites compressa, and Porites lobata were the three species.

The samples were placed in four distinct seawater tanks under four different settings:

A control tank with present ocean circulation,

An acidification situation (-0.2 pH units), and

An ocean temperature model (+2 °C), and a mixed acidity and heating scenario.

Under these circumstances, the coral specimens were preserved for 22 months.

Warmer seas would harm coral species, according to the findings: 61 percent of corals subjected to warming circumstances survived, compared to 92 percent exposed to present ocean temperatures.

M. capitata was more robust than the two Porites species. In the combination heat and acidity situation, over the duration of the research, survival rates for P. compressa were 71%, 56% for P. lobata, and 46% for M. capitata.

"The coral that survived, particularly the Porites species, were surviving well, if not thriving," McLachlan added.

The surviving Porites, for example, were able to sustain normal development and metabolism despite the above-average warmth and high ph.