The Coral reefs they are ecosystems very sensitive to environmental changes. The variation in salinity, the concentration of pollutants or the increase in temperatures can affect the coral community. Climate change problematic It is affecting coral reefs due to the two degree increase in average water temperatures in the area where they are found.
The remaining corals are in danger of disappearing if these conditions continue to exist. The coral is located off the island of Ishigaki in the Okinawa archipelago and has been declared a nature reserve. It has more than 70 species of corals and it is considered one of the oldest and largest reefs in the entire northern hemisphere.
Coral reefs bleach when environmental conditions are not favorable and they die. 97% of corals that make up this reef have been bleached and 56% have died. As the average water temperatures increase caused by climate change and global warming the coral reef cannot adapt to such changes and die. With the corals, all the fauna related to them also dies and that depend on the corals to live.
What has caused the temperature of the surrounding waters to rise by two degrees has been the meteorological phenomenon known as The boy. El Niño increases the temperatures of the sea's surface waters and has contributed to the bleaching of corals. Bleaching also occurs when corals are faced with extreme changes in nutrients and light.
The fact that the corals begin to die puts at risk the abundance of the fish species that depend on the reefs for their food and hiding place. If greenhouse gas emissions continue at the rate they are today, fish stocks could decline between 10 and 30% by 2050 according to IUCN data.