Lab-grown algae might help save corals from climate change
Hardy Reef in Queensland, Australia, which is still healthy and vibrant (The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO)/)Coral reefs are in trouble. In April, Australian scientists reported that the Great Barrier Reef was suffering from another large-scale coral bleaching episode—the third in five years. This year’s bleaching appears to be even more widespread than those caused by marine heat waves in 2016 and 2017, which halved the coral cover across the reef. The trend exists worldwide, paralleling the increasing intensity and frequency of marine heat waves. Even if we could stop our greenhouse gas emissions today, corals would face a precarious future, in which a jump in temperature of just a couple degrees could destroy vast numbers of these creatures. That’s why some marine biologists are looking for ways to buy these organisms some time. And one way to do that might be to enhance their symbiotic algae, as...