Natural Ocean "Thermostat" May Protect Some Coral Reefs

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.ucar.edu/news/releases/2008/coral.jsp

Natural Ocean "Thermostat" May Protect Some Coral Reefs

February 07, 2008
BOULDER—Natural processes may prevent oceans from warming beyond a certain point, helping protect some coral reefs from the impacts of climate change, new research finds. The study, by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), finds evidence that an ocean "thermostat" appears to be helping to regulate sea-surface temperatures in a biologically diverse region of the western Pacific.

The research will be published online Saturday in Geophysical Research Letters. It was funded by the National Science Foundation, NCAR's primary sponsor, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy; the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology; and AIMS.

The research team, led by NCAR scientist Joan Kleypas, looked at the Western Pacific Warm Pool, a region northeast of Australia where naturally warm sea-surface temperatures have risen little in recent decades. As a result, the reefs in that region appear to have suffered relatively few episodes of coral bleaching, a phenomenon that has damaged reefs in other areas where temperature increases have been more pronounced.

The study lends support to a much-debated theory that a natural ocean thermostat prevents sea-surface temperatures from exceeding about 88 degrees Fahrenheit (31 degrees Celsius) in open oceans. If so, this thermostat would protect reefs that have evolved in naturally warm waters that will not warm much further, as opposed to reefs that live in slightly cooler waters that face more significant warming.

...

More (including video) at the link.

[thereismore]

1. Hurray, we can go on burning fossil fuels!

:evilgrin:

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. Don't you like to learn that "There is more?"

There are mechanisms at work that we don't fully comprehend.

Or do you want to see a global extinction with all possible haste?

[thereismore]

4. Please lighten up, it was a joke. nt

[OKIsItJustMe]

6. I understood that it was intended as a joke

I just didn't think it was funny.

You're right though... must lighten up. (Thanks)

[NickB79]

3. So, warm-water regions won't heat up too far

"If so, this thermostat would protect reefs that have evolved in naturally warm waters that will not warm much further, as opposed to reefs that live in slightly cooler waters that face more significant warming."

But all that excess heat gets transferred to more polar regions instead?

Hooray?

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. Think of coral reefs as the rainforests of the ocean

If we lose all of the coral reefs... we're in deep trouble.
http://www.oceansatlas.com/servlet/CDSServlet?status=ND0zMTc5NCZjdG5faW5mb192aWV3X3NpemU9Y3RuX2luZm9fdmlld19mdWxsJjY9ZW4mMzM9KiYzNz1rb3M~
http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/biodiv/coral.htm

...

Clearly, conservation of coral, and oceans in general, is linked to human survival and will continue to be an urgent issue in the 21st century.

[Dead_Parrot]

8. True...

...but if we loose the polar sea ice, we loose the ice algae which underpins a large chunk of the oceanic food-chain - and we're in deep trouble again.

[phantom power]

7. I'm interested in how corals have survived past warm/acidic periods.

Maybe this is a piece of the puzzle.