Caroline's Environment Blog

Will Coral Reefs Survive Climate Change? As climate change warms the ocean stresses corals and causes bleaching events and the algae that gives them their color leaves due to stress. It's very sad that because of climate change causing the ocean temperatures to increase that it affects these animals drastically. As these reefs die they also impact the marine life that live in these environments. Kristen Marhaver, a marine biologist that studies coral reefs mentioned in a 2017 Ted Talk that as the temperature of the ocean increases corals are discharging the algae that gives them color and nutrients, the tissue that's left is bleached and clear, and the corals usually starve and become overgrown by algae ("Why I Still..."). This is referred to as coral bleaching. Rising temperatures, chemicals, and pollution are all harming corals and marine life and changing how they live. Marhaver says that with climate change some corals will survive if properly protecte...

"The planet is emitting nine gigatons of carbon every year, and that amount increases annually, Jason Smerdon, a climate scientists for Columbia University's Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, told ABC News (Jacobo)." It's very shocking how much carbon emissions we are emitting every year, and as we continue to keep adding to these emissions  the worse the condition of the environment becomes.  Its important that we are taking action to help reduce these emissions. According to this article by Julia Jacobo, New York is going to be carbon neutral before 2050, which means that the state will be balancing out for the carbon emissions they created ("Carbon Neutrality"). If more states and companies followed this idea of becoming carbon neutral and lowering their emissions it will help reduce these emissions and will help the environment. I hope that other states will follow this idea and hope to become carbon neutral. It would also be important if large compa...