Anderson Mayfield, Author at NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory /author/anderson-mayfield/ Preparing the nation for change by studying the ocean, earth & atmosphere Thu, 09 Dec 2021 17:44:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 /wp-content/uploads/2018/09/NOAA_logo_512x512-150x150.png Anderson Mayfield, Author at NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory /author/anderson-mayfield/ 32 32 Characterizing Coral Resilience in the Anthropocene: A Reef in the “New Normal” /characterizing-coral-resilience-in-the-anthropocene/ Mon, 16 Aug 2021 13:00:00 +0000 /?p=24762 It can be hard to stay upbeat as a marine biologist, especially with the onslaught of existential threats like climate change facing the planet. Coral reefs are arguably the ecosystem that stands to lose the most with respect to climate change, namely because the resident organisms are highly sensitive to elevated temperatures. Furthermore, the limestone-based reef framework itself is diminishing before our eyes due to the accompanying rise in carbon dioxide levels (which decreases oceanic pH, leading to ocean acidification). That being said, there are corals out there that display resilience, continuing to thrive in habitats that would appear decidedly marginalized to even the untrained eye.

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