japan volcanic island may hold key to coral survival
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

in the waters surrounding a small volcanic island

Japan volcanic island may hold key to coral survival

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicleJapan volcanic island may hold key to coral survival

The unique conditions of waters around Shikine island off Japan mimic
Aboard the schooner Tara - Arab Today

The key to the survival of the world's threatened coral reefs may lie in the waters surrounding a small volcanic island off the coast of Japan, scientists say.

The seabed of Shikine island is a "living laboratory" for researchers aboard the schooner Tara, a French-led scientific expedition, who are looking for clues to help protect coral from the damaging effects of climate change.

While coral reefs cover less than 0.2 percent of the ocean surface globally, they host some 30 percent of marine animal and plant species, serving as a source of food and offering protection from predators.

"Losing these reefs would be horrifying," said Sylvain Agostini, an expedition coordinator and professor at Japan's University of Tsukuba.
Shikine's unique conditions -- created by underwater volcanoes that flood some of its coves with CO2 and make it less alkaline -- mimic what scientists say will be the impact of unchecked carbon emissions on the world's oceans by 2100.

The build-up of CO2 due to greenhouse gas emissions or underwater volcanic activity raises the temperature and transforms the chemistry of ocean waters, in a process known as acidification.

Researchers say the waters in parts of Shikine, located 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of Tokyo, offer a glimpse of how marine life -- including corals -- can fare in less alkaline water. 

Japan's corals, the northernmost in the world, could offer important data to bolster knowledge about marine life, as Australia's Great Barrier Reef faces a threat to its survival.

Last week, scientists said the famous reef was at serious risk from bleaching -- a process in which stressed corals expel the algae that live in their tissue and provide them with food -- due to warming sea temperatures. 

They warned that coral bleached for two consecutive years at the World Heritage-listed site had "zero prospect" of recovery after researchers detected another round of mass bleaching after an earlier event in 2016.

- Very troubling -

"I've been studying corals for 20 years and what I'm seeing is a large-scale decline," Maggy Nugues, a senior lecturer at the prestigious French research institute Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, told AFP aboard the ship, which departed France in May 2016.

"There is a 50 percent to 80 percent reduction in coral cover in the Caribbean and the Pacific -- this is very troubling."

Half a dozen researchers on the vessel want to see how an underwater ecosystem, including corals, plankton, seaweed and fish, fares in Shikine's seemingly inhospitable environment.

Early comparisons with another bay on Shikine that boasts vastly different conditions suggest corals do much better in more alkaline water.

"We're hoping that these higher latitude zones can serve as a refuge," Agostini said.

"But the question remains about the acidification of the oceans and it's here, in Shikine, in these natural laboratories that we hope to find the answer," he added.

Built in 1989, the 36-metre (120-foot) long ship has gained fame for previous scientific expeditions, including a 500-day trip in the Arctic, and in 2001 when its former owner, New Zealand skipper Peter Blake, was shot dead on board by pirates in the Amazon.

The current two-year expedition will head to Australia and New Zealand before hitting Indonesia and the Philippines.

Nugues warned that the speed of climate change, fuelled by human activity, was making it tough for animals to adapt. 

"The planet has evolved under relatively stable conditions, letting organisms and animals adapt," she said.

"But here we're speeding things up, maybe faster than nature's clock."

Source: AFP

themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

japan volcanic island may hold key to coral survival japan volcanic island may hold key to coral survival

 



Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

GMT 08:32 2011 Monday ,25 July

Sabri accuses Yusri in Souad Hosni’s murder

GMT 12:07 2014 Monday ,03 February

Home design ideas

GMT 11:20 2017 Thursday ,02 March

Mexico central bank cuts growth outlook over Trump

GMT 08:31 2017 Tuesday ,28 November

Bangladesh upholds death sentence for 139 soldiers

GMT 14:33 2017 Thursday ,20 April

US defense secretary vows support for Egypt's Sisi

GMT 16:12 2017 Wednesday ,20 December

Myanmar bars UN rights investigator just before visit

GMT 08:21 2017 Wednesday ,30 August

United Technologies near deal to buy Rockwell Collins

GMT 18:27 2017 Friday ,21 April

ARCO condemns targeting of ERC convoy in Somalia

GMT 07:23 2017 Tuesday ,21 November

perched in Jerusalem's hills may soon vanish

GMT 19:33 2017 Tuesday ,10 October

US scientists engineer corn to boost protein

GMT 08:43 2017 Monday ,04 December

Brexit deal 'difficult but doable': diplomats

GMT 11:24 2017 Friday ,03 March

Lego honors 'Women of NASA'

GMT 11:35 2017 Tuesday ,05 December

Bahrain's top Shiite cleric hospitalised

GMT 21:39 2017 Saturday ,30 September

Abdel Karim praises Egypt’s role

GMT 10:11 2017 Tuesday ,12 December

Latest Grateful Dead resurrection -- a duo

GMT 15:43 2017 Monday ,04 December

Yemen's Huthi rebels claim ex-president Saleh killed

GMT 15:59 2017 Thursday ,30 November

Bahrain Bourse daily trading performance
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
 
 Themuslimchronicle Facebook,themuslimchronicle facebook  Themuslimchronicle Twitter,themuslimchronicle twitter Themuslimchronicle Rss,themuslimchronicle rss  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle