Vibrant and colourful coral reefs, when triggered by high sea temperatures become colourless is known as Coral bleaching.
Beautiful coral reef along with exciting marine plants and animals make coastal region attractive to tourists. Thus, Great Barrier reef, Red Sea Coral Reef, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Atoll Reefs are always on the priority list of travelers who love to explore marine diversity. Summer is an exciting season to explore coastal areas, however, this year is going to be tragic!
Believe it or not, climate change is real and it's destructing nature. Not only it's impacting us on the ground, it is also destroying lives in the ocean.
In this article, we will discuss about one of the major coral reef bleaching events of this century currently happening in Lakshadweep.
According to the Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS): “A marine heatwave event of moderate category with area of spreading 98.56% has been observed on May 3 over the Lakshadweep coast.”
“Marine heatwaves are rare extreme weather events that involve prolonged periods of abnormally high ocean temperatures. These temperatures often exceed the 90th percentile of typical regional ocean temperatures based on historical data. In Lakshadweep, the Degree Heating Week (DHW) indicator, which measures accumulated heat stress, has surged above 4°C-weeks. This poses a substantial risk of coral bleaching, threatening the region’s diverse marine ecosystems,” CMFRI said in a statement.
CMFRI confirmed the incident if coral reef bleaching in Gulf of Mannar also.
This is not the first time Lakshadweep is facing coral reef bleaching.
KR Sreenath, senior scientist at CMFRI mentioned: “The Lakshadweep Sea has recorded around three coral bleaching events —1998, 2010 and 2016. Following the 1997-98 event around 65% of the corals globally that were bleached recuperated. There were two other bleaching events but the current bleaching event seems to be more severe than the earlier two.”
During last global mass coral reef bleaching incident during 2014 to 2017, one third of the coral reefs in the Great Barrier Reef faced loss of vibrant colour.
Derek Manzello, the coordinator of NOAA’s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Coral Reef Watch, expressed concerns about the ongoing crisis: “It's looking like the entirety of the Southern Hemisphere is probably going to bleach this year. We are literally sitting on the cusp of the worst bleaching event in the history of the planet.”
As ocean temperature increases, marine biodiversity will surely be seriously affected. It may lead to rise in marine species mortality. As of now, we are just looking at the qualitative impact, however, scientists are expecting shocking data when we will receive quantitative impact.
“Such heat stress levels signify a severe threat to coral health, leading to extensive bleaching where corals lose the symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae). If the DHW continue to rise, reaching beyond 12°C-weeks, it could precipitate an unprecedented biodiversity crisis due to multispecies mortality,” said KR Sreenath, senior scientist at CMFRI.
Initial data shows that the ongoing situation could possibly be even more catastrophic. In northern hemisphere, the Caribbean sea is badly affected by severe bleaching.
If the situation persists, it will impact marine biodiversity, tourism, and coastal livelihood. Thus, immediate action is must in vulnerable areas.
