Geo-Eye

Abstract

Abstract Coral reefs, the home of the most diverse marine habitat, are the direct receptors of anthropogenic disaster –(climate change). The drastic increase in temperature causes the degradation of the presently declining status of the coral reefs.Summer temperatures in February-April 2016 have caused severe and widespread coral bleaching in Australia. Compared to earlier mass bleaching in 1998 and 2002, 2016 is much more severe, with 50-80% coral mortality recorded on northern reefs. . On the east coast, this is the third mass bleaching event.In this paper, we reviewcoral reef responses to climate variability and discuss the possible mechanisms by which climate impacts the coral reef ecosystem. Most bleaching events are reported from the Great Barrier Reef, Moorea, and the Caribbean .Organisms tend to be limited to specific thermal ranges with experimental findings showing that sufficient oxygen supply by ventilation and circulation only occurs within these ranges. Effects of oceanographic variables such as sea temperature, turbulence, salinity, and nutrients on the coral reef are discussed in terms of their influence on coral growth, reproduction, mortality, acclimation and adaptation .The main objective of the study is to assess the impacts of this long-term climate variability on the biophysical condition of these coral reefs.

Keywords: Climate change(variability), coral bleaching, biophysical condition ,coral morality, specific thermal ranges.