Corals are threatened by global warming
A bit of pre-emptive tinkering by people might help to save them
It is not news that coral reefs are in hot water. Corals, which are sessile animals related to sea anemones, host within their tissues algae that provide them with both food and their tourist-attracting colours. But as temperatures rise, the photosynthetic mechanisms of these algae go haywire. Instead of molecular oxygen, the normal waste product of photosynthesis, they start generating highly reactive and therefore toxic oxygen-rich compounds, such as peroxides. If they do this to excess, their hosts expel them, bleaching the coral concerned white.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Reef knots”
From the June 4th 2022 edition
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