Optimising cool-water injections to reduce thermal stress on coral reefs of the Great Barrier Reef.

ABSTRACT: Coral bleaching driven by ocean warming is one of the most visible ecological impacts of climate change and perhaps the greatest threat to the persistence of reefs in the coming decades. In the absence of returning atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations to those compatible with ocean temperatures below the mass coral bleaching temperature thresholds, the most straightforward means to reduce thermal-stress induced bleaching is to cool water at the seabed. The feasibility of reducing the seabed temperature through cool-water injections is considered first by analysing the feasibility of doing so on 19 reefs with differing physical environments using a simple residence time metric in 200 m resolution hydrodynamic model configurations. We then concentrate on the reefs around Lizard Island,

SUBMITTER: Baird ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7575073 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature