Dbq Essay On Coral Bleaching

Historical View of Coral Bleaching Coral bleaching events have become severe issue in the past twenty years. The increase in water temperatures due to climate change and the increased pollution by humans are some of the main causes of increased coral bleaching events. Coral bleaching is the whitening of the coral due to increased stress. The bleaching process causes the coral to have an increased susceptibility to infections and other external factors. This leads to the ultimate death of the coral and the homes of many sea creatures. Coral bleaching is a problem that occurs worldwide where scientists are trying to uncover the central causes of the bleaching and how it affects people and the environment. Scientist have conducted multiple

This means that the reefs are losing their rigid structures. The reefs still have hope to become recovered from the effects of bleaching. The document states that “for the recovered reef, live coral cover was comparable to the undisturbed reefs across all zones and exposures” which shows that a successful coral recovery can result in the corals returning to their natural state before the bleaching process (Graham). These two studies support each other because the Chauka’s study shows that light exposure due to the lack of turbidity results in coral bleaching while Graham’s study shows that the sloped and crested reefs experience less light exposure resulting in less coral bleaching. Another study by Emily Hardman, a professor of the School of Ocean Sciences at the University of Wales, discusses the effects of coral bleaching on the reefs in Rodrigues which are located in the Indian Ocean. This study was taken in 2002, a time where coral bleaching was still in its early stages worldwide. They found that during February of this year, there was “high cloud cover, very high rainfall and lower hours of sunshine” which resulted in the mitigation of “severe bleaching” (Hardman). However, the water temperatures were reported to have been up to