Limiting global temperature rises to even 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels would be “catastrophic” for coral reefs, scientists say.
Countries have agreed to curb global warming to 2°C, and try to limit temperature rises to 1.5°C to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, including more extreme floods, storms, heatwaves and damage to crops.
But scientists led by the University of Leeds warn that the climate risk is even worse for coral reefs than set out in a UN assessment in 2018, which warned that 70 to 90 per cent would be lost at 1.5°C of warming.
That assessment, by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, also found almost all corals would vanish at 2°C of warming.
The new research has found that more than 90 per cent of tropical coral reefs would suffer frequent “intolerable” heat stress as a result of ocean warming even under the tougher 1.5°C limit.
Places that can maintain suitable temperatures for corals to survive, while the ocean temperatures in surrounding areas rise, are known as “refugia”, and were identified by the researchers as areas projected to suffer severe heat stress less than once in 10 years.
This is about the time it takes for reefs to grow back and be fully functioning.
In recent decades, 84 per cent of tropical reefs have had enough time between heatwaves that cause coral death or bleaching to recover and re-establish, with these refugia found in all 12 coral reef regions across the world.
But at 1.5°C of warming, that will fall to just 0.2 per cent of coral areas, in Polynesia and the “coral triangle” in the western Pacific Ocean, where lower rates of warming and colder water reduce the frequency of ocean heatwaves.
No “refugia” areas will exist with 2°C of warming, the study based on historical data and climate models shows.
“We confirm that warming of 1.5°C relative to pre-industrial levels will be catastrophic for coral reefs,” they wrote in a paper published in the journal PLoS Climate.
Identifying and protecting refugia and reducing other stresses such as fishing and pollution has been a popular recommendation for managing reefs, the researchers said, but might only be a short-term solution.
Alongside creating protected areas, action to help reefs adapt to higher temperatures and help migration of species might be needed to secure coral reef survival.
“Our finding reinforces the stark reality that there is no safe limit of global warming for coral reefs,” said lead author Adele Dixon, a PhD researcher in the University of Leeds’ School of Biology.
Ms Dixon said that after the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow where countries made some progress towards keeping temperatures to the 1.5°C limit, “our finding shows that 1.5°C is still a substantial amount of warming for the ecosystems on the frontline of climate change”.
“Our work shows that corals worldwide are even more at risk from climate change than we thought at the time of the IPCC special report on 1.5°C," said Piers Foster, professor of climate physics at the university.
“This reinforces the stark reality that there is no safe limit of global warming, and we need to act urgently to save what we can.”
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MEFCC information
Tickets range from Dh110 for an advance single-day pass to Dh300 for a weekend pass at the door. VIP tickets have sold out. Visit www.mefcc.com to purchase tickets in advance.
The specS: 2018 Toyota Camry
Price: base / as tested: Dh91,000 / Dh114,000
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 298hp @ 6,600rpm
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Which products are to be taxed?
To be taxed:
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Products excluded from the ‘sweetened drink’ category would contain at least 75 per cent milk in a ready-to-drink form or as a milk substitute, baby formula, follow-up formula or baby food, beverages consumed for medicinal use and special dietary needs determined as per GCC Standardisation Organisation rules
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
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What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
