Scientists Find Genetic Resistance to Climate Change in Coral Reefs - http://clapway.com/2015/06/26/scientists-find-genetic-resistance-to-climate-change876/

OTHER ORGANISMS’ EXTINCTIONS ARE EARLY WARNINGS FOR US

So we’ve all seen the dystopic apocalypse-fetish hollywood films depicting humanity migrating en masse to escape meteors underground, escape an ice age in Mexico, and escape zombies in…well, wherever. But how will the rest of Earth’s biosphere escape climate change? Hasn’t anyone thought of the coral reefs?

Scientists have theorized in a UN report on the progress of global effects that when it comes to the ineluctable force of global climate change, organisms like coral reefs, which support a vast ecosystem of other organisms, may be the most sensitive to rising temperatures. This is especially bad because their demise would doom a whole smorgasbord of other dependent plants and animals.

WHY GENETIC EXCHANGE IS A GOOD IDEA

But a group of scientists recently reported that reef-building corals could be rescued by exchanging their genes with heat-tolerant genotypes from latitudes where temperatures traditionally shift the highest. In their words, “Elevated thermal tolerance was associated with heritable differences in expression of oxidative, extracellular, transport, and mitochondrial functions that indicated a lack of prior stress.”

Translation: it turns out that corals with tolerance to great differences in temperature tend to have a rich mix of genetic variety, specifically from the lower latitudes, where the water has already been relatively warm for quite some time.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE FUTURE OF CORALS REEFS?

This is important because last year in a United Nations report it was found that the early warning signs of irrevocable climate change would appear in the mass extinction of warm water corals and the Arctic. These scientists also claimed the acidification of oceans by human pollution were other sources of growing threat to the corals. Since we now know that corals can inherit a resistance giving them a strong evolutionary advantage in the coming global crisis, other questions can be taken more seriously.

ANSWERS FOR BROADER DEBATES REGARDING THE CHANGING ENVIRONMENT

Now that we know that resistance to climate change has a strong genetic basis, we have more data with which to debate the pros and cons of relocating animals to warmer climates.

This will help us stave the forces of extinction for some species, surely, but many others, who may potentially bring diseases unknown to warmer climates, face uncertain futures. Seriousness aside, should the Coca-Cola Polar Bear meet the Californian? Shall the Chihuahua assuage the Husky?

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Scientists Find Genetic Resistance to Climate Change in Coral Reefs

Pacific Ocean"s Monster Net -- The War on Trash in Hawaii - http://clapway.com/2015/06/08/pacific-oceans-monster-net-the-war-on-trash-in-hawaii-123/

Oil isn’t the only thing contaminating the ocean these days. Recently a net weighing in at 11.5 tons was dragged out of the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii proving that the War Against Trash is more crucial than previously thought.

The Pacific Ocean’s Monster Net

This “monster net” was first spotted in the Pacific Ocean 2013 and was just considered a legend among those working for Hawaii’s Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. This first sighting occurred with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on a coral reef in the outskirts of Hawaii’s Pearl and Hermes Atoll.

“Parts of it were snagged on the sea floor. A giant tree twisted in its mass, and a green sea turtle, a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, was injured and snared in its folds,” reported National Geographic.

The Dangers of the Net

The divers, alone, were not capable of removing this mass. So, they returned to land and a few days later went out with a research team to further assess the damage done by this monster net. During those three days, the net killed three coral reef sharks, making this a more deadly scenario than previously thought.

The research team attached a GPS tracker to the net, and then they retreated to land to organize an excavation of this monster net. Things did not go as planned, because within a few weeks’ time, the net shed the GPS tracker and evaded surveillance of ocean cleanup teams; thus, the net was viewed as a legend among those who worked in ocean cleanup.

Although the net eluded capture for quite some time, that didn’t slow down researchers and activists, adamant about cleaning up the ocean and raging a “War on Trash” in Hawaii’s water and reefs.

In September, 17 NOAA members embarked on a 33 day cleanup in the Pacific Ocean around Hawaii’s coral reefs. Although their sole mission was not the “monster net”, they kept their eyes peeled for anything that might lead them to finding the infamous danger.

Trash For Days, Weeks, or Months?

Four days into their mission, NOAA members spotted the net, and they were in awe at what they saw. The net was 30ft. long and 8ft. wide. It was so full of trash that it stuck out one foot above the water. It took researchers and volunteers three days to drag this monster net, weighing 11.5 tons, from the depths of the ocean. Now, they are assessing the damage done to the reef and the wildlife of the area.

This is not the first cleanup resulting in monstrous findings of trash and litter in the coral reefs surrounding Hawaii, and it definitely won’t be the last. It isn’t enough to do cleanups, however, to completely win the “War on Trash” we have to stop the hazards at the source.

Protect, protect, protect:

Pacific Ocean"s Monster Net -- The War on Trash in Hawaii