Group 04: Coral Reefs & Bleaching

Coral Reefs & Bleaching

MEA 100 Final Group Project

Riley Bresnahan, Staci Batchelor, Naya Bartlett, & Shirin Rahnama

Above, photo of comparison of healthy coral reefs (Orange) and bleached coral reefs (white).

The dataset our group is representing is the Atlantic Ocean coral reef graph. By evaluating variables such as thermal history and satellite data between the years of 1985 and 2012, scientists acquired numerical data concerning seasonal and climate variations in six locations, including the Atlantic Ocean. This data provides a quantitative analysis of how common bleach related stress events are. According to the data, bleach related stressing events have steadily increased across the globe in the seven year span in which this data was measured and collected. The data in the Atlantic Ocean region is skewed left, meaning the highest peaks were within the recent decade. The Atlantic Ocean’s highest observed points were in 2005 and 2010 and began leveling off in 2010. However, the overall spread of the data and the trends within the data point toward a rapid increase of coral stressing events in the future.

Above, figures from "Warming Trends and Bleaching Stress of the World’s Coral Reefs 1985–2012."

Above, another comparison of healthy coral reels (left) and bleached coral reefs (right).

Coral bleaching occurs when the corals expel microscopic algae called zooxanthellae due to the stress caused by environmental changes, such as temperature increases. These algae are what gives the corals their vibrant colours, and expelling them causes the corals to turn white. However, the corals can get the algae back only if temperature levels stabilize (Hancock, WWF).

The main cause of coral bleaching is climate change. As atmospheric temperature increases, the oceans become warmer, which leads to coral bleaching. Ocean acidification also contributes to coral bleaching. The increase of CO2 in the atmosphere, due to climate change, causes the ocean to absorb more CO2 (Hancock, WWF). This leads to an imbalance of the ocean’s pH level making it harder for corals to build their skeletons and/or repair damages caused by coral bleaching. The datasets we use for the project showcases the increasing levels of coral bleaching. This aligns with the fact that temperature levels are increasing globally. This is an example of how impacts on the atmosphere can heavily affect conditions in the hydrosphere.

Our unconventional representation of the dataset is a photoshop collage of the coral reefs that incorporate the Atlantic dataset. Because drawing and painting seemed unrealistic to be collaborative during the current circumstances, we chose something that reflected how digital media is highly used. We based our work off of Jill Pelto, who incorporated graphs into her paintings that displayed data relating to damage of climate change on the environment. She created these works of art to create awareness around climate change. Though many people hear about climate change, visual representations that include the data give a better understanding, especially to those who are visual learners. Many artists are incorporating more graphic-design related work into their art, so as a somewhat tribute to Jill Pelto, we based our design off of hers. For our representation, it displays what seems to be a regular coral reef. The goal is to have at first glance look like an image of the coral reef. However, the bars are represented by pieces of semi-bleached coral to correspond how bleaching damages the ecosystem.

Data Representation of Coral Bleaching in the Atlantic

Bibliography

Buchanan, Michael. “To Protect Coral Reefs, Keep Dory Swimming.” ShareAmerica, 22 June 2016,

share.america.gov/to-protect-coral-reefs-keep-dory-swimming/.

Becker, Ryan. “Illustrated Graphs: Using Art to Enliven Scientific Data.” Science Friday, 21 Oct. 2016,

www.sciencefriday.com/educational-resources/illustrated-graphs-using-art-enliven-scientific-data/.

Hancock, Lorin. “Everything You Need to Know about Coral Bleaching-And How We Can Stop It.” WWF, World

Wildlife Fund, www.worldwildlife.org/pages/everything-you-need-to-know-about-coral-bleaching-and-how- we-can-stop-it.

Heron, Scott F, et al. “Warming Trends and Bleaching Stress of the World’s Coral Reefs 1985–2012.” Scientific

Reports, vol. 6, 2016, doi:https://www.nature.com/articles/srep38402.

Lily. “Fish Guide in the Great Barrier Reef.” Seabeast, 31 Jan. 2019, myseabeast.com/fish-guide-in-the-great-barrier

-reef/.

Moore, Sarah. “Underwater Loudspeakers Are Making Fish Flock Back to Coral Reefs.” AZoCleantech.com, 2 Dec.

2019, www.azocleantech.com/news.aspx?newsID=26806.

Rajiwade, Vikram. “Care Tips for ClownFish.” Tank Facts, 21 June 2020, www.tankfacts.com/article/care-tips-for-

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