Coral bleaching: Pernambuco will lose around a third of its species by 2024, researchers say | Pernambuco

Experts warn of the consequences of coral bleaching on the Brazilian coast

Recent surveys by the NGO project a loss of more than 30% of corals due to bleaching in 2024, exceeding the rate recorded last year. According to scientists, This is the largest death process of these species ever recorded on the Brazilian coast.

In addition to warming seas, other factors, such as overfishing and pollution, can cause what experts call “thermal stress”, affecting corals.

“Coral is a warm-water animal, here in the tropics. At around 25 to 29 degrees, it adapts a lot. But, in our measurements, we saw temperatures of 33 degrees”, said the oceanographer and researcher at the Recfal Conservation Project, Luís Guilherme França.

Videos taken by experts show whitish corals in places such as São José da Coroa Grande, on the South Coast of Pernambuco.

Some of them are completely colorless. When this happens, it is a sign that they are releasing zooxanthellae, microalgae responsible for their characteristic color and nutrition.

“The diagnosis is that the coral is sick, susceptible to acquiring other diseases. There is a range of coral diseases, pests, coral cancer… There are several diseases, caused by a range of microorganisms, mainly bacteria”, he stated researcher Fernanda Amaral, from the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE).

Corals are invertebrate animals, formed by a calcium structure, which together form reefs. The color of these groupings is an indication of how healthy the organisms are.

According to experts, coral reefs are essential for marine life because they serve as a reservoir of nutrients for at least a quarter of the species that live in the sea. Furthermore, these animals form a natural barrier, protecting the coast from the advance of the tide.

“The loss of coral reefs causes losses on several fronts, economic and social. For example, fishing depends heavily on the environments. So, the death of corals and the disruption of this ecosystem has a strong impact on fishing and traditional communities that also They depend on fishing here on the coast of Pernambuco and Alagoas, mainly”, explained the coordinator of the Recifal Conservation Project, Pedro Pereira.

According to researchers, coral bleaching is a reversible process, but this depends on people’s environmental awareness.

“If, from a young age, she has this awareness, I believe she will take better care of her waste, she will try to waste less water, she will try to do all the procedures to help nature as a whole”, said researcher Fernanda Amaral .