Downplaying Light Stress To Hype Global Warming Misinforms The Public About Coral Bleaching
10 hours ago Guest Blogger
By Jim Steele
Why have major coral bleaching events occurred during EL Nino events?
During an El Nino, warm water stored in the Pacific Warm Pool of the Coral Triangle sloshes eastward. That lowers the ocean temperatures in the western Pacific and raises temperatures in the eastern Pacific as seen in the temperature anomalies of illustration A.
It also shifts the centers of convection from the more westerly positions during La Nina and neutral conditions and moves them eastward. The resulting changes in atmospheric circulation cause downward air flow typical of heat domes and clearer skies over the western Pacific and Atlantic Ocean and Carribean. That causes more intense solar radiation and coral light stress those regions.
Due to the biochemistry governing photosynthesis, high light stress causes the increased production of dangerous oxidants (aka ROS: Reactive Oxygen Species). Dangerous oxidants damage living tissues, which is why all organisms naturally produce and ingest anti-oxidants. So, when corals’ symbiotic algae produce too much ROS and overwhelms a coral’s natural anti-oxidant systems, to prevent further damage, the coral eject their symbiotic algae and that causes bleaching.
As peer reviewed science explains,
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/05/28/downplaying-light-stress-to-hype-global-warming-misinforms-the-public-about-coral-bleaching/
