An Australian Scientist has discovered a startling connection between healthy coral reefs, rain & global warming.
Professor Jones of Australia's Southern Cross University has found that algae living in coral tissue and in the ocean produce massive amounts of a substance called DMS. When it reaches the air, DMS forms cloud nuclei or ‘cloud seeds’ which help clouds form. The clouds both produce rain and reflect sunlight back into space, creating a cooler planet – phenomena with interesting implications for global warming.
A rise in ocean temperature of only two degrees Celsius above mean temperatures could cause the algae to stop producing DMS – potentially leading to less cloud formation and less rain.
"It is no coincidence that much of Australia’s rainforest lies adjacent to the northernmost reefs," Professor Jones said. "Lower levels of DMS over coral reefs could dry out north Queensland’s rainforests.
"We believe the clouds generated by the corals in the Great Barrier Reef are transported by the south-east trade winds from April to October and attract water vapour as they are transported to the rainforests of North Queensland.
"In the monsoonal or wet period, the north-east winds bring in clouds that are generated from reefs in the wider western Pacific to the north of us. When they reach the rainforests of North Queensland, these clouds produce rainfall."
Professor Jones said that in the 1970s, researchers from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology found very large concentrations of DMS in the air above the Great Barrier Reef. At that time, they guessed that the corals of the reef were responsible for the high count, but just how the mechanism worked was a complete mystery.
A lot more is now known about this mechanism and Professor Jones has been at the forefront of coral DMS research for over a decade.
"Over the last 10 years, we have shown that corals contain the highest concentrations of these natural DMS aerosol particles on Earth and unlike phytoplankton in the ocean, they produce it continuously every day, because it is essential for their normal metabolism," Professor Jones said.
"A disturbing aspect of our recent research at Heron Island coral cay, however, has shown that when corals are stressed by elevated temperatures, coral bleaching occurs and the corals shut down production of atmospheric DMS."
Yet another reason to save our coral reefs.
