No, no, no NOAA
Say it ain’t so
Woe, I dunno
How much longer can we go?
[Chorus]
Good grief, coral reef
A distress test
The heat stress
Causing a mess
[Instrumental, Guitar Solo, Drum Fills]
[Verse 2]
Bringing bleach
To the beech
This is alarming
And disarming
[Chorus]
Good grief, coral reef
A distress test
The heat stress
Causing a mess
[Instrumental, Saxophone Solo, Drum Fills]
[Bridge]
The Atlantic Ocean
Heat in motion
Too hot (hot, hot, hot)
Why not
Raise the alarm
Due to the harm?
[Chorus]
Good grief, coral reef
A distress test
The heat stress
Causing a mess
[Outro]
The heat stress
Causing a mess
A SCIENCE NOTE
In 2023, coral biologists described the temperatures as “unprecedented” because they started early and remained at bleaching levels for an extended period. NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch Program Coordinator, Derek Manzello, noted that reefs in the Caribbean and Florida are already experiencing a repeat of last year’s conditions. As of April 2024, heat stress is accumulating in Caribbean reefs, occurring weeks earlier than in 2023.
“This is alarming because this has never happened so early in the year before,” Manzello said. “And to say that is alarming because last year we experienced the same thing.”
The Atlantic Ocean bleaching event last summer was so severe that NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch added three new alert levels to their scale, which previously maxed out at alert level 2, to better categorize the heat stress occurring.
Coral reefs confront unprecedented challenges arising from various stressors, many of which are directly tied to human activities. Some of these stressors possess critical tipping points, surpassing which can lead to the collapse of coral ecosystems. According to the European Geosciences Union’s statement on January 2, 2024, specific tipping points include a temperature increase of 1.2℃ above pre-industrial levels and atmospheric CO2 concentrations exceeding 350 parts per million. Disturbingly, as of February 2024, the Earth’s yearly average temperature has already risen to +1.5℃ and CO2 to 425 ppm, underscoring the urgency of addressing climate-related threats to coral reefs.
In a significant update from May 2024, scientists determined through tree ring analysis that the average temperature increase in 2023 reached 2.07 degrees Celsius, further underscoring the escalating pace of climate change and its profound impact on global ecosystems.
Coral Reefs’ Tipping Point Brouse (2024)