Coral Reefs Survive being Nuked and Water Temperatures of 55,000°C

[Poptech]

Bikini Corals Recover From Atomic Blast (The University of Queensland, Australia)

Half a century after the last earth-shattering atomic blast shook the Pacific atoll of Bikini, the corals are flourishing again.

One of the most interesting aspects is that the team dived into the vast Bravo Crater left in 1954 by the most powerful American atom bomb ever exploded (15 megatonnes - a thousand times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb). The Bravo bomb vapourised three islands, raised water temperatures to 55,000 degrees, shook islands 200 kilometers away and left a crater 2km wide and 73m deep.

After diving into the crater, Zoe Richards of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University said: “I didn't know what to expect – some kind of moonscape perhaps.

"But it was incredible, huge matrices of branching Porites coral (up to 8 meters high) had established, creating thriving coral reef habitat.

"Throughout other parts of the lagoon it was awesome to see coral cover as high as 80 per cent and large tree-like branching coral formations with trunks 30cm thick. It was fascinating – I've never seen corals growing like trees outside of the Marshall Islands.

“The healthy condition of the coral at Bikini atoll today is proof of their resilience and ability to bounce back from massive disturbances"

They survived water temperatures of 55,000°C degrees, yet they are surely doomed to extinction from a 0.6°C increase in temperature.

 

[Terry]

Umm... have you considered that given 50 years had passed, the coral there now might be a new colonization of the area?

 

[Reality Check]

You are comparing a temporary 55,000°C degrees increase in temperature with a permanent 0.6°C increase in temperature.
I guess that you would also be surprised to learn the forests recover after forest fires !

And further down in the article:

For comparison the team also dived on neighbouring Rongelap Atoll, where no atomic tests were carried out directly although the atoll was contaminated by radioactive ash from the Bravo Bomb and local inhabitants were also evacuated and for the most part, have not returned. The marine environment at this atoll was found to be in a pristine condition.

The team thinks that Rongelap Atoll is potentially seeding Bikini's recovery, because it is the second largest atoll in the world with a huge amount of coral reef diversity and biomass and lies upstream from Bikini.

 

[Dr Adequate]

They survived water temperatures of 55,000°C degrees, yet they are surely doomed to extinction from a 0.6°C increase in temperature.

No. They did not survive being nuked. They grew back.

The tourists at Auschwitz are not holocaust survivors, nor do they prove that a little bit of cyanide never did anyone any harm.

Incidentally, did you miss this bit?

The research has also revealed a disturbingly high level of loss of coral species from the atoll.

Compared with a famous study made before the atomic tests were carried out, the team established that 42 species were missing compared to the early 1950s. At least 28 of these species losses appear to be genuine local extinctions probably due to the 23 bombs that were exploded there from 1946-58, or the resulting radioactivity, increased nutrient levels and smothering from fine sediments.​

 

[DogB]

Single events don't hurt reefs. Even long term events like ice ages have limited effect.

A coral reef is a very thin skin of living organisms over a dead limestone skeleton. You can kill the skin and so long as the conditions are right (and there's a seed culture somewhere) it will grow right back.

To be perfectly honest the most surprising thing about this report is that the scientists were expressing surprise. I would have been surprised if the coral hadn't returned.

 

[Moose2000]

The fact that you took some effort to cut off your quote just before the (obvious, but let's repeat it anyway) "that is, if the reef is left undisturbed and there are healthy nearby reefs to source the recovery” does suggest that you're just trolling for the sport of it.

 

[William Parcher]

DogB, you've got some potentially misleading wording.

Single events don't hurt reefs. Even long term events like ice ages have limited effect.

Single events can hurt reefs. The bomb undoubtedly destroyed the reef at Bikini Atoll. You mean that coral reefs still exist on earth despite catastrophic local events and climate change.

A coral reef is a very thin skin of living organisms over a dead limestone skeleton. You can kill the skin and so long as the conditions are right (and there's a seed culture somewhere) it will grow right back.

You seem to be confusing a coral colony with a coral reef (ecosystem).

To be perfectly honest the most surprising thing about this report is that the scientists were expressing surprise. I would have been surprised if the coral hadn't returned.

They may not have expected it to look like it does. Further research will probably show that it is still different when compared to nearby reefs which were unaffected by the testing.

 

[Poptech]

Global warming good news for coral reefs (University of New South Wales, Australia)

"Our analysis suggests that ocean warming will foster considerably faster future rates of coral reef growth that will eventually exceed pre-industrial rates by as much as 35 per cent by 2100," says Dr Ben McNeil, an oceanographer from the University of News South Wales.

"Our finding stands in stark contrast to previous predictions that coral reef growth will suffer large, potentially catastrophic, decreases in the future," says McNeil

No worries.

 

[Uncayimmy]

They survived water temperatures of 55,000°C degrees...

I took a pizza out of a 450F oven today, but I'm not planning on moving in anytime soon.

 

[Poptech]

That makes no sense

 

[lomiller]

I don't know, not moving into a 450 drg oven makes a lot of sense to me

 

[Poptech]

Not in relation to this topic.

 

[SezMe]

They survived water temperatures of 55,000°C degrees, yet they are surely doomed to extinction from a 0.6°C increase in temperature.

That is NOT what your link says. It cites the 55K°C rise and it indicates that some coral has thrived. Nowhere does it say that the existing coral at the location of the temperature rise survived.

 

[Uncayimmy]

Not in relation to this topic.

Sure it is. You compared the effects a large temporary change in temperature to a small permanent one. Most life can withstand short-term changes in the environment. I can hold my breath for a minute, but I'm not gonna survive on top of Mt. Everest very long. In the same way I can reach inside a hot oven, but I can't live very long at temps equivalent to the "warm" setting.

 

[DogB]

DogB, you've got some potentially misleading wording...

I stand (sit) corrected. What he said.

 

[DogB]

They survived water temperatures of 55,000°C degrees

Actually is water even water at 55kc? It'd be pretty much fully dissociated wouldn't it?

 

[realpaladin]

Good thing coral isn't food... can you imagine waiting for it to be finally cooked?

 

[Poptech]

So coral reefs can survive a nuke but cannot adapt to a 0.006 C increase in temperature each year?

 

[arthwollipot]

So coral reefs can survive a nuke but cannot adapt to a 0.006 C increase in temperature each year?

You may have missed this:

That is NOT what your link says. It cites the 55K°C rise and it indicates that some coral has thrived. Nowhere does it say that the existing coral at the location of the temperature rise survived.

 

[Uncayimmy]

So coral reefs can survive a nuke but cannot adapt to a 0.006 C increase in temperature each year?

I don't know that the coral survived a nuke. I know that Hiroshima was hit by a nuke and lots of people died. People are living there now. I'm reasonably certain that the current population doesn't include any of those who died in the initial explosion. I'm also reasonably certain that nobody at ground zero survived. Maybe a few did, but I doubt their descendants make up a significant portion of the current population.

You're following this, right?

As for whether coral can survive the temperature change you describe, I'm pretty sure that if it keeps up indefinitely, coral will no longer be able to adapt. When faced with a changing environment, species either adapt, relocate, or go extinct. The fact that we only find coral surviving in a narrow range of temperatures despite gradual changes in water temps as one moves about the ocean, it's self-evident that coral hasn't yet been able to adapt. If adaptation is so easy, why hasn't coral spread to all parts of the ocean?