Geography: Climate Change and Habitat Destruction

Today, we learnt about the impact of habitat destruction as a result of climate change. Our lesson was focused on coral bleaching in coral reefs, such as the Great Barrier Reef. We discovered that coral and algae have a symbiotic relationship (they are BFFs), but if the temperature of the water gets too warm, the coral gets stressed, and algae exits the coral’s polyps because it doesn’t want to deal with stressed out coral. Because the algae is what gives coral its beautiful colour, and also provides its main food source, the coral begins to fade to white and starves. When you see white coral, you are looking at bleached coral, which is a skeleton of what was once full of life and beauty.

Here is a video explaining the effects of climate change on coral reefs in more detail:

Here is a clip about a fantastic program, called Coral Watch, where anyone can help scientists keep track of the state of health of coral and water temperatures in over 50 countries worldwide.