Mass Coral Bleaching Event Confirmed | EarthxNews | EarthX - video Dailymotion

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EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/   It's official. Scientists from NOAA and the International Coral Reef Initiative have declared that the world is experiencing its fourth global coral bleaching event. Derek Manzello, NOAA's Coral Reef Watch Coordinator, explains the ramifications.  About EarthxNews: A weekly program dedicated to covering the stories that shape the planet. Featuring the latest updates in energy, environment, tech, climate, and more.   EarthX Love Our Planet.  The Official Network of Earth Day.   About Us:  At EarthX, we believe our planet is a pretty special place. The people, landscapes, and critters are likely unique to the entire universe, so we consider ourselves lucky to be here. We are committed to protecting the environment by inspiring conservation and sustainability, and our programming along with our range of expert hosts support this mission. We’re glad you’re with us.     EarthX is a media company dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet. We take an omni channel approach to reach audiences of every age through its robust 24/7 linear channel distributed across cable and FAST outlets, along with dynamic, solution oriented short form content on social and digital platforms. EarthX is home to original series, documentaries and snackable content that offer sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. EarthX is the only network that delivers entertaining and inspiring topics that impact and inspire our lives on climate and sustainability.       EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/    Follow Us:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earthxtv/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/earthxtv  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/earthxtv      How to watch:   United States:   - Spectrum  - AT&T U-verse (1267)  - DIRECTV (267)  - Philo  - FuboTV  - Plex       #EarthDay #Environment #Sustainability #Eco-friendly #Conservation #EarthxTV #EarthX

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00:00 (dramatic music)

00:02 - Significant severe coral bleaching has been reported

00:04 in at least 54 countries and territories

00:08 around the globe since February, 2023.

00:12 So it's spatially extensive occurring, again,

00:16 in all ocean basins across multiple, multiple countries.

00:20 NOAA is declaring that the world is indeed, in fact,

00:24 experiencing its fourth global coral bleaching event.

00:27 It is unfortunately official.

00:30 Scientists from the National Oceanic

00:32 and Atmospheric Administration

00:33 and the International Coral Reef Initiative

00:36 have formally announced wide swaths of tropical reefs

00:39 have started to expel the colorful algae

00:41 living in their tissue.

00:43 The joint statement comes just weeks

00:45 after NOAA issued a dire warning

00:47 about the risk of a mass coral bleaching event

00:49 following months of record-breaking ocean heat

00:52 and documenting extensive bleaching-level heat stress

00:56 on reefs across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.

01:00 Joining us now is the man you just heard from,

01:02 the coordinator of NOAA's Coral Reef Watch, Derek Manzello.

01:06 Derek, thank you so much for coming on.

01:08 So for those who might not be familiar

01:10 with the term coral bleaching,

01:12 what exactly is it and what causes it?

01:14 - So corals are an animal,

01:18 very similar to a jellyfish or something like that.

01:21 They're very simple animals.

01:23 They're only about four cell layers thick,

01:26 but they live in a symbiotic relationship

01:28 with a type of algae,

01:30 and this algae provides upwards of 95%

01:34 of the nutritional requirements of the coral animal.

01:37 However, the symbiotic relationship

01:39 is highly sensitive to elevated temperatures.

01:42 And this is because photosynthesis essentially goes haywire

01:46 in the algae at high temperatures and high light,

01:48 causing the coral animal to expel these symbionts.

01:52 So when they expel their symbionts,

01:54 they turn stark bone white,

01:57 and they just have the coral tissue and no algae.

01:59 And essentially what this means is that

02:01 the coral is in a state of starvation.

02:04 So if water temperatures don't decline

02:07 and things don't cool off quick enough,

02:09 the coral may eventually die from this bleach condition.

02:12 - So this is now the fourth worldwide mass bleaching event.

02:15 When was the last one and why is this so significant?

02:18 - So there have been three previous

02:21 global coral bleaching events on record.

02:23 The first was 1998, the second was 2010,

02:25 and the third was from 2014 to 2017.

02:29 So this is the second global scale

02:31 mass coral bleaching event we've experienced

02:33 in the last 10 years.

02:35 And the coral reefs are significant for multiple reasons.

02:38 So one of the big things they do

02:40 is they provide coastal protection from storms.

02:42 Now, healthy coral reefs can block more than 90%

02:45 of the wave energy during things like hurricanes,

02:48 typhoons, and cyclones.

02:51 Coral reefs are also the rainforests of the sea.

02:54 Now, what that means is about 25%

02:56 of every living thing in the ocean

02:58 depends on coral reefs at some point in its lifetime.

03:02 So what that means is one in four of every organism

03:04 that's alive in the ocean is dependent

03:07 on functional, healthy coral reefs.

03:10 - So how does weather play a role in this?

03:12 I assume that El Niño and La Niña both play a part,

03:16 but what exactly is it?

03:19 - So El Niño definitely plays a part.

03:22 Now, the first mass coral bleaching event

03:25 that ever occurred on record

03:27 due to elevated ocean temperatures

03:28 happened actually 40 years ago now.

03:31 So this occurred throughout the Eastern Tropical Pacific

03:34 over 1982, 1983.

03:36 Now, that was at that time the strongest El Niño on record.

03:40 Now, of course, we've broken that record now two times since.

03:44 Now, the reason this is so severe

03:47 and that these mass coral bleaching events

03:50 are happening more frequently

03:51 is because the ocean is warming significantly and rapidly,

03:55 and it's outpacing the ability of corals

03:58 to keep track with these rising ocean temperatures.

04:01 - Is there any hope?

04:02 Can coral reefs rebound?

04:04 - Absolutely.

04:06 So there's absolutely hope.

04:07 One of the things I wanna make clear

04:09 is that all is not lost, right?

04:11 This should be viewed as a global warning.

04:14 The fact that we're seeing this synchronous bleaching

04:17 happening in all three ocean basins,

04:18 I mean, it's so severe,

04:19 you can see coral bleaching from satellites, right?

04:23 So if temperatures cool off quickly enough,

04:26 corals can recover and they can rebound.

04:29 Now, the issue is coral bleaching events

04:31 are becoming more severe

04:33 and they're becoming more frequent.

04:34 So even in the best case circumstance,

04:37 it can take a reef maybe seven to 15 years

04:40 to start recovering coral from upstream sources,

04:44 coral larvae come in from other reefs.

04:46 Now, the issue is we're seeing bleaching events

04:49 happen with much greater frequency than seven to 15 years.

04:52 So what this means is that reefs are now entering

04:54 a state of chronic stress.

04:56 And this is why it's so important that we continue

05:01 to engage in this assistant evolution process

05:04 using cutting edge science and restoration

05:07 to try to breed corals that have higher heat tolerance

05:10 that we can then utilize to restore places

05:13 that have been impacted like the Florida Keys.

05:16 Derek Manziello, thank you so much for coming on

05:18 and for sharing your knowledge with us.

05:20 My pleasure, thank you for having me.

05:23 (upbeat music)

Mass Coral Bleaching Event Confirmed | EarthxNews | EarthX

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