Corals and global warming: the Mediterranean VS the Red Sea
1. Corals and global warming: the
Mediterranean versus the Red Sea
Project conceivers: Zvy Dubinsky, Bar-Ilan University, Israel,
Stefano Goffredo and Giuseppe Falini, Alma Mater Studiorum-
University of Bologna, Italy
www.CoralWarm.eu
4. CO2 and Mineral Saturation
Increase in atmospheric CO2 (see fig) increases pCO2 in surface seawater.
Potentially inhibiting effect on calcifying organisms (corals and coralline algae)
due to decrease in saturation state of CaCO3 with increasing pCO2.
Possible stimulatory effect of increased CO2 on some algae
Decreasing calcification along with increasing sea level may result in reefs
being unable to keep up.
Likewise corals may change the density of their skeletons in response to
decreased calcification, if density is lower then corals more susceptible to
physical damage from storms and bioerosion
5. The anthropogenic CO2 emissions and ozone
destruction result in processes detrimental to
various marine biota, in addition to their publicized
social, political and economic aspects. These
include seawater warming, ocean acidification and
sea level rise.
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10. As a result of increases
in pCO2 and changing
CaCO3 saturation state,
there was a 10 %
decrease in calcification
from 1890 - 1990 and
9 - 30 % from 1990 -
2100.
Gattuso et al, 1999
11. Thus, there is unprecedented urgency to quantify the effects
of global warming on calcifying organisms and the
associated ecosystem.
CoralWarm focuses on the effects of
temperature warming on corals, including synergistic effects with the
ongoing seawater pH decrease.
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25. The aim of the project is creating a
predictive model of coral survival and reef
community structure changes for
Mediterranean and Red Sea species, under
various Global Climate scenarios
CoralWarm will provide the first estimate of
temperature warming impact on the Mediterranean
and the Red Sea coral system. The scenario for the
next century will be outlined
26. CoralWarm’s highly interdisciplinary character lies in the collaboration and ideas
exchange among various disciplines of the academic world
Zvy Dubinsky, Oren Levy, Yuri Giuseppe Falini, Stefano Goffredo,
Kamenir Erik Caroselli, Francesco Zaccanti,
Paola Fantazzini, Luca Pasquini
Photobiology, physiology, gene
expression, biostatistics Crystallography, mineralization,
histology, biometry, population
dynamics, nuclear magnetic
resonance, mechanical properties
External collaborators: Mutaz Al Qutob (Department of Biology, Al-Quds University),
Mary Alice Coffroth (Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New
York), Jaap Kaandorp (Section Computational Sciences, University of Amsterdam),
Aldo Shemesh (Department of Evironmental Sciences and Energy Research,
Weizmann Institute of Science)
