Discussion Series: Coral reefs
Location: Virtual
Dates: 20 October 2022, 15:30-17:00 CEST
Register: https://tipping-series-coral.confetti.events/
Join AIMES, Earth Commission, Future Earth and WCRP webinar in a series that aims to advance the knowledge about tipping elements, irreversibility, and abrupt changes in the Earth system. The event includes two presentations on potential tipping of coral reef and impacts on ocean ecosystems.
Presentations
- David Obura, Founding Director of CORDIO East Africa
- Joanie Kleypas, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), USA
- Q&A/ Discussion moderated by Albert Norström, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Sweden
Speaker Information
David Obura is a Founding Director of CORDIO East Africa and a commissioner for the Earth Commission. CORDIO East Africa is a knowledge organization supporting sustainability of coral reef and marine systems in the Western Indian Ocean. CORDIO takes research to management and policy, builds capacity, and works with stakeholders, managers and policy makers. David’s primary research is on coral reef resilience, in particular to climate change, and the biogeography of the Indian Ocean.
Joanie Kleypas is a marine ecologist/geologist that focuses on how coral reefs and other marine ecosystems are affected by changes in the Earth’s atmosphere and climate. Global warming, for example, is causing tropical ocean temperatures to increase faster than corals can adapt, resulting in high rates of coral bleaching. This is one of the major causes of the present, rapid degradation of coral reef ecosystems. Ocean acidification is another major threat to coral reefs, because as the oceans absorb much of the CO2 released to the atmosphere by fossil fuel burning and deforestation, seawater pH declines and reduces the ability of corals and many other organisms to build their skeletons and shells.