Our Vanishing Coral Reefs

Climate Emergency Forum discusses the dire state of coral reefs globally due to rising ocean temperatures caused by climate change and a deep concern over their unprecedented bleaching.
This video was recorded on April 23rd, 2024, and published on May 12th, 2024 and represents the opinions of the discussion participants.
Coral bleaching, where corals expel the algae living symbiotically with them due to heat stress, was first observed in the 1980s but has become increasingly frequent and severe. The current global bleaching event, which began in February 2023, is described as the longest, most widespread, and intense on record, affecting all major reef regions from the tropics to the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. Entire reef systems like the Great Barrier Reef are experiencing over 80% bleaching down to depths of 60 feet, which is extremely abnormal.
Coral reefs, which support 25% of marine life, provide immense ecological and economic value estimated at $9.8 trillion per year, and represent one of Earth's most biodiverse ecosystems, are being destroyed before our eyes due to human-caused climate change. Grief is expressed over this loss of natural beauty and one of the planet's greatest examples of mutualism between species.
Links:
- Coral reef
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_reef
- NOAA Coral Reef Watch
coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/
- Temperatures Are Off the Charts: World Is Experiencing Its Fourth Global Coral Bleaching Event
newsroom.wcs.org/News-Release...
- NOAA - Daily Global 5km Satellite Coral Bleaching Heat Stress Alert Area
coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/produ...
- Coral Reef Watch
coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satel...
- Can the Great Barrier Reef survive climate change?
interactive.carbonbrief.org/c...
- Global warming transforms coral reef assemblages
www.nature.com/articles/s4158...
- The ocean has become more stratified with global warming
www.eurekalert.org/news-relea...
- Peak oil' could be on the horizon, but new fossil fuel projects are pushing ahead
www.nbcnews.com/science/envir...
- Global coal demand expected to decline in coming years
www.iea.org/news/global-coal-...
- How criminalization is being used to silence climate activists across the world
www.theguardian.com/environme....
- A report on climate and energy policy advocacy by the Canadian oil and gas sector
influencemap.org/briefing/The...
- National oil company
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa...
Regular Panelists:
Dr. Peter Carter - MD, Expert IPCC Reviewer and the director of the Climate Emergency Institute
Paul Beckwith - Climate Systems Scientist. Professor at the University of Ottawa's Paleoclimatology Laboratory as well as at Carleton University
Regina Valdez - Program Director, Climate Reality Project, NYC. GreenFaith Fellow and LEED Green Associate
Video Production:
Charles Gregoire - Electrical Engineer, Webmaster and IT prime for FacingFuture.Earth & the Climate Emergency Forum; Climate Reality Leader
Heidi Brault - Video production and website assistant, Organizer and convener, Metadata technician, COP team lead for FacingFuture.Earth and the Climate Emergency Forum; BA (Psychology); Climate Reality Leader
Our Website:
climateemergencyforum.org/
Attributions:
Background Music:
- Title: Through the City II
- Author: Crowander
- Source: Free Music Archive
- License: CC BY-NC 4.0
Image and Video: climateemergencyforum.org/ass...

Пікірлер: 83

  • @treefrog3349
    @treefrog334919 күн бұрын

    The magical, mysterious interwoven complexity of "LIFE" itself upon planet Earth is a phenomenon that is ignored or missed by many of us. Ironically, we are VERY aware and incensed when any sacrilege or disrespect occurs to our man-made religious icons, but when those slights occur to the biggest mystery of ALL - we take it in stride. Our culturally misplaced priorities boggles this mind. Sometimes I feel like an alien species with utterly different sensibilities!

  • @timeenoughforart

    @timeenoughforart

    19 күн бұрын

    You struck a nerve. I paint wildlife and decided to paint just like we have painted saints. It has been fun and I've learned many skills, plus a good bit of history. Multiple years at this project and I have sold one painting. To be fair, I avoid sales. I don't need money. My sanity is necessary to do the art. My sanity is necessary to endure the collapse of all I love.

  • @earthsystem

    @earthsystem

    18 күн бұрын

    I hear you. Darwin Award for the human species. I'm writing the epitaph.

  • @crazykat1984

    @crazykat1984

    18 күн бұрын

    I agree. Nature is the expression of the divine in which I believe. Nature is my religious icon.

  • @disgruntledarmadillo6267

    @disgruntledarmadillo6267

    17 күн бұрын

    Majority of people that declare to love animals or the environment don't live in alignment with their values and follow a vegan lifestyle. How ridiculous is it, in this very video, "If you love seafood then this is for you" over 75% of the great Pacific garbage patch is from the fishing industry, but that doesn't scratch the surface of the true damage it does. Watch seaspiracy.

  • @everythingmatters6308

    @everythingmatters6308

    17 күн бұрын

    ​@@timeenoughforartAre you aware that when you rinse a paint brush with acrylic paints you are rinsing microplastic down the drain and into our water ways?

  • @crazykat1984
    @crazykat198418 күн бұрын

    Why isn’t mainstream media covering this more? It is vital.

  • @Zankras
    @Zankras19 күн бұрын

    Thank you for making these videos and keeping us all informed. The amount of people barrelling towards climate collapse with no knowledge of what's happening or what more is to come is horrifying to me.

  • @leskuzyk2425
    @leskuzyk242519 күн бұрын

    About two decades ago now, at a climate conference, I first heard of our dying reefs. At 1C, all dead I heard. Now Peter says 1.5C. Same deal now. Why does anyone still speak of snorkelling, or diving or fishing the reefs. I did see the reefs ... my daughter never will. I've accepted the climate truth ... when will the global north?

  • @anthonydavies6021
    @anthonydavies602119 күн бұрын

    Profound words from all of you. I recently started to do some conservation volunteering on a local nature reserve and it has given me so much pleasure. It is helping me to feel that I can do something on the positive side of the equation. We have been musing on how climate change could be causing certain indigenous plants to predominate, when they were just part of the warp and weave of the plant community before. The destruction of the coral reefs is ecocide of unimaginable proportions, and fossil fuel company CEOs and their enabling governments should be held responsible and punished, for depriving us and future generations of an infinitely precious natural wonder, and the destruction of the fabulously diverse coral ecosystems.

  • @earthsystem

    @earthsystem

    18 күн бұрын

    We set up a system that's out of our control. We have no mechanism by which to halt the expansion of oil. Netherlands tried to halt the oil drilling off its coast but it could not because the world court judges decided the case in favour of oil.

  • @earthsystem

    @earthsystem

    18 күн бұрын

    Before Extinction Of Species, I want to ask, I noticed a long time past that humans set up systems out of our control that are killing us. Amiright??

  • @TennesseeJed
    @TennesseeJed19 күн бұрын

    Thanks for covering the news of our impending losses.

  • @ClimateEmergencyForum

    @ClimateEmergencyForum

    19 күн бұрын

    You're welcome and thanks for the visit.

  • @heidibrault1313

    @heidibrault1313

    19 күн бұрын

    Thank you for your support!

  • @TennesseeJed

    @TennesseeJed

    19 күн бұрын

    @@ClimateEmergencyForum I never miss an episode of the Peter, Paul and Regina report!

  • @beverleyhuish5871
    @beverleyhuish587119 күн бұрын

    Thank you ❤ for covering this horrible situation. The word tragedy just doesn't even seem to cover it.

  • @robertlussier2944
    @robertlussier294419 күн бұрын

    See "Nature Bats Last" March 25, 2024 for Guy McPherson's latest update on coral bleaching. Edit: Paul, sure the coral skeleton is formed with calcium, but in the form of calcium carbonate. Many hundreds of tons of carbon is locked up in the living reef, but a dead reef can no longer form a calcium carbonate skeleton.

  • @timeenoughforart
    @timeenoughforart19 күн бұрын

    95% loss of Kelp forest off coast of California. 60% world wide loss of kelp. Invasive seaweeds just as problematic. An 800 mile long devastation of Atlantic coast of US. Similar issues in Caribbean, Hawaii, the whole damn ocean. The whole damn planet. We hear about it rarely, but listen to it even less. Thanks you what you do for the 12 regulars who tune in. (12 is a little sarcastic, I didn't get to see the Aurora and am bummed.)

  • @amberazurescale5617
    @amberazurescale561719 күн бұрын

    Gosh, what a devastatingly depressing video. Paul is again at his peak performance, putting an unspeakable drama into words. Takes a lot to make me feel this sad and heartbroken, yet angry all the same. I'm unable to wear the rosered glasses on this one. What did humans unleash onto this earth? What nightmare have I put myself into? Truly, anyone who doesn't care about this is unworthy of this beautiful planet they've been born into. It makes me wanna shout at humanity: "Just stop it! Just leave Earth alone! Just be gone already!". Really, when will this nightmare end?

  • @lornareay
    @lornareay16 күн бұрын

    Thank you. You have presented this so well. It's devastating to contemplate what is happening. I hope many people will watch this, as well as your other presentations.

  • @danielcolman5064
    @danielcolman506419 күн бұрын

    The gulf between this and the mainstream news is frightening. Two alternative realities, one true, painful, but true. Thank you all for documenting ongoing tragedy and being honest. It empowers me to live with purpose and chimes in with and instinctive understanding that something ain't right!

  • @vthilton
    @vthilton19 күн бұрын

    Save Our Planet Now!

  • @Silks-

    @Silks-

    19 күн бұрын

    Got a spare Time Machine?

  • @leskuzyk2425
    @leskuzyk242519 күн бұрын

    If I recall, the polyps at a certain temp dump their symbiotic smaller living entities. And, they die. Color bleaches out, and the reefs turn white.

  • @JoeySmallwood3
    @JoeySmallwood312 күн бұрын

    I was a dive instructor on Maui during the 2015 bleaching event and I recorded water temperatures of 82° and bleaching at 80 feet depth

  • @GregoryJWalters
    @GregoryJWalters19 күн бұрын

    A tragic and sad situation the death of coral reefs. When will the needed Sacrifices be made for the childrens' sake?

  • @Silks-

    @Silks-

    19 күн бұрын

    Helen Lovejoy’s entered the chat

  • @Muddslinger0415

    @Muddslinger0415

    19 күн бұрын

    Never

  • @Spice1_
    @Spice1_18 күн бұрын

    Great video thank you

  • @ClimateEmergencyForum

    @ClimateEmergencyForum

    18 күн бұрын

    You're welcome, thanks.

  • @petrlonsky2332
    @petrlonsky233219 күн бұрын

    I bought few days ago wonderbag cooker... I am not refugee, or subsaharian, just man, who sees, that If I do not stop burn fossil fuels myself, no one else would do it for me. Hope to help me to reduce more my energy consumption. Take responsibility for situation in which we are and look for possibilities how live more sustainabily within this marvellous world, we are killing. Coral reefs really matters. Where would little Nemo and Dory live, now??? 😥🌍🕊

  • @inotcare
    @inotcare9 күн бұрын

    thank you for your work!!

  • @ClimateEmergencyForum

    @ClimateEmergencyForum

    8 күн бұрын

    Welcome!

  • @EmeraldView
    @EmeraldView19 күн бұрын

    I'd like to imagine that massive concerted global efforts could salvage things. But... It seems a forgone conclusion that it's too late even if we were to do that (and doing that is still quite fanciful).

  • @johnkintree763
    @johnkintree76319 күн бұрын

    The existing structure of power works to protect special interests such as the fossil fuel industry. How close are we to building a global digital platform that can have conversations with millions of people at the same time, and build a shared world model for planning collective actions?

  • @democracy1

    @democracy1

    19 күн бұрын

    AI may have a significant impact on our democracies, but unless we have meaningful representation and accountability it won't mean anything

  • @robertlussier2944

    @robertlussier2944

    19 күн бұрын

    I have wondered why the IPCC and COP conferences aren't held digitally, instead of having 70,000 attendees hop on a plane?

  • @anamariacarvalho6738
    @anamariacarvalho673819 күн бұрын

    Here in Brasil we are Stiller leasing with the flood at the South region of Brasil. Its ranking again ....more then 100 mm in a Day, agsin over The same region that were vitim of the recent flood

  • @coweatsman
    @coweatsman18 күн бұрын

    If the Great Barrier Reef dies then there goes Queensland's tourist industry with its biggest drawcard.

  • @DrJanpha
    @DrJanpha18 күн бұрын

    The rainforests of the oceans are in crisis.

  • @Silks-
    @Silks-19 күн бұрын

    We shouldn’t be recommending tourism. Edit: you said we should try to see the reefs while we can, I think we should stop any and all frivolous travel

  • @heyitsalanhere

    @heyitsalanhere

    19 күн бұрын

    Yeh...everyone should just stay at home, watch shite on the brainwashing box and order in take-away pizza, burgers and other toxic take-aways all sluiced down with copious amounts of alcohol and other mind numbing drugs ⚕ Don't let folk's actually travel...they can put on a virtual reality headset and "travel the world" like that...they'd never notice the difference from the real thing one the brain has been so fkd up... 😵 📺

  • @OHexpat12
    @OHexpat1217 күн бұрын

    A: does run off from household products effect coral reefs?

  • @lancechapman3070
    @lancechapman307018 күн бұрын

  • @davidwatson7604
    @davidwatson760419 күн бұрын

    Algo boost!

  • @ocskywatch1
    @ocskywatch118 күн бұрын

    Citizens of the Ocean Movement

  • @reefrebels
    @reefrebels17 күн бұрын

    This coral bleaching catastrophism has been going on in The Great Barrier Reef since 1960s .. we have not lost a single reef yet. Did you know there was actually a record high coral cover in 2022/23 ? kzread.info/dash/bejne/k6aZsZipdbeYo9o.html

  • @basementracer7622
    @basementracer762215 күн бұрын

    I've got a climate emergency for you. My workshop gets incredibly hot in the summer and even though I leave my AC on in there 24/7 it still doesn't get cool enough. It's not very well insulated so all the heat comes in and the cold air leaks out. I am rich enough to just leave that AC powering away and making it cooler in there for me when I need to go in there say once a week. What should I do to keep my workshop cool? I was thinking of adding another AC unit to it and just letting them churn through electricity so when I do go in my shop on occasion it's nice and cool for me. I only usually stay a couple of hours a week but leaving them running full blast 24/7 ensures it's cool all the time for when I need to use it. What's to be done!

  • @albertharum-alvarez4381
    @albertharum-alvarez438110 күн бұрын

    Thank you, but Competition is not the opposite of Cooperation. It includes Cooperation. It’s how the beautiful fluorescent corals recently evolved. Corals can choose which zooanthellae they allow to host, and when they make the choice to evict-which is what bleaching is-they can pick a better tenant. From this competition came the beautiful new fluorescent corals. They are often much more vigorous, able to live in challenging locations like the busy Port of Miami. You can see them live on a webcast. Competition brings this beauty. It’s how the reefs got to be such a stunning display of life. Same for the rainforests. Today’s tenants outcompeted their rivals! I’m 63 years old. It was stunning when I saw the first fluorescent corals in the shallows right along the roadway at Hobie Beach. I was stunned again when I learned that the massively destructive dredging of Miami’s Government Cut gave birth to a new hybrid coral, a staghorn/elkhorn mix, and that it also hosts these amazing fluorescent zooxanthellae. Sure there’s danger. But we seem to talk about coral the same way we demean poor immigrants and minorities-as if they have no agency, as if WE are their only hope. Let’s check our arrogance. and let’s not steal agency-neither from fellow humans nor from corals.

  • @grahambibby1895
    @grahambibby189519 күн бұрын

    80 percent fossil energy

  • @janllh24
    @janllh2419 күн бұрын

    I find the practice of evaluating life in monetary terms, as 'services' etc, obscene, it's a fundamentally ecotoxic discourse, attesting to how quite how unsustainable 'we' are

  • @StabilisingGlobalTemperature
    @StabilisingGlobalTemperature19 күн бұрын

    There are efforts to cool the waters of the Great Barrier Reef using salt spray. Rather than doing this from manned boats, which of course can only be on location in short periods, why not have a fleet of drone boats to do this? They can be on location 24/7, and not limited by the endurance of humans. Does anyone know if drone boats are being considered for this task?

  • @Silks-

    @Silks-

    19 күн бұрын

    Even if marine cloud brightening was successful in cooling us down slightly, it’s far too little, far too late. It’s not just the temperature of the oceans/atmosphere that’s sealed our doom. Either way, what you speak of is like turning up to a forest fire with a fire extinguisher.

  • @StabilisingGlobalTemperature

    @StabilisingGlobalTemperature

    18 күн бұрын

    @@Silks- Yes it should have been done at scale years ago, as Professor Steven Salter suggested. But is it too late? Why do you say that? Surely it is all the more urgent now to just get on with it and stop the dithering?

  • @pedromarrero
    @pedromarrero18 күн бұрын

    Unless everyone turns everything off and refuse to drive and stay home and starve to death. Not happening. Like everybody else I drive to get to work and I'm a truck driver whose work is to go to the plant to pickup the food that goes to the warehouse where it gets pickup by other trucks to different places and then it's sent to a supermarket where people come and get it and then take it home. You see it is more complicated than just protesting. Where are the new technologies to keep the human race alive because we've already missed the chance 40 years ago. I'm like a lot of people we are not rich to invest in solar panels and have an electric car. Yeah, you get the idea. It's up to the industry and governments and it's not happening fast enough. Remember the hockey stick graph? Yes... this disaster is upon the whole planet now. Drastic measures have to take place now, like solar radiation control. Who's gonna pay for it, Who's going to do it? Biosphere collapse will result because our efforts are too little and too slow. Blame me if you want, now Remember I can't control the planet.

  • @DanielWatson-vv7cd
    @DanielWatson-vv7cd18 күн бұрын

    The corral reefs are not going extinct. They will adapt or move to cooler deeper waters.

  • @bangelos1380

    @bangelos1380

    18 күн бұрын

    But then the corals would have to learn to survive without algae, because there is no light in deeper regions. Let's assume, however, that the corals could move. It would then take 1,000 years for a coral reef to grow. The corals would then be gone for a while, with all that that means for the marine ecosystem. The same applies to adaptation.

  • @hormunculus
    @hormunculus18 күн бұрын

    I don’t think you should be encouraging people to go anywhere near coral reefs x

  • @tomaseriksson4533
    @tomaseriksson453317 күн бұрын

    Coral reefs are already doomed. They will not survive much longer, so the question is rather how we should create new habitats for fish. The solution for the climate crisis is floating see weed that are harvested and dried in the sun. See weed can be a new source for fertilizer and energy (with carbone capture). There must be some kind of chemical/industrial process that can fix it. This will be perfect habitats for fish........ I can't see any other solution that can work in the long run. We might have 5 years to find out how to do it and 10 years to implement it to a scale of the area of USA. During the 19th century was see weed the important source for fertilizer on the west coast here in Sweden.

  • @dawn21stcentury
    @dawn21stcentury19 күн бұрын

    Maybe stop this channel? Me, my family and friends watching your channel has made us soo depressed, we gave up all together.

  • @ClimateEmergencyForum

    @ClimateEmergencyForum

    19 күн бұрын

    We have many positive solution oriented videos: kzread.info/head/PLTD-F8Igr8KOeHDYV6xIXkkQMy8mvsPZL&si=aqcVPZDtJlccvAvs

  • @StabilisingGlobalTemperature

    @StabilisingGlobalTemperature

    19 күн бұрын

    We need to rapidly get on with Solar Radiation Management. The time for dithering is over. Once we get on with SRM (or SOS) then it would give people renewed hope. And hopefully avoid the tipping points. There can be hope, but there is a lack of political will. The irony is that some climate activists are opposed to SRM, but I think they do not understand that cutting CO2, even with full political support, would not be done instantaneously. And even if miraculously we reached net zero in a very short timescale, that would not instantly stop temperatures rising. To do that does require SRM / SOS to be applied. Those opposing it probably are doing so with the best intentions. But that does not mean they are correct.

  • @Silks-

    @Silks-

    19 күн бұрын

    Burying your head in the sand doesn’t change reality. Try use this knowledge to enjoy the short time we have left. Don’t shoot the messenger.

  • @rbj5767

    @rbj5767

    19 күн бұрын

    Maybe build up your strength as adult human beings ⁉️⁉️

  • @stevangelical7052

    @stevangelical7052

    19 күн бұрын

    Watch both versions of On The Beach instead.

  • @globalwarming382
    @globalwarming38218 күн бұрын

    I talk to a lot of ppl, yes im that guy. It is sad that 99% of ppl dont want to know and they push back hard. Needless to say they will not do good in the gery near future.