patrickbdevaney/mia9 · Datasets at Hugging Face

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Celsius) over the next 100 years (5).
• Ocean currents may shift (53).
Photo courtesy of Roffer's Ocean Fishing
Forecasting Service, Inc.

IV. “Drivers” of Climate Change
and Their Effects on Florida’s
Ocean and Coastal Resources
E F F ECT : Increases in Coral Bleaching and Disease
Corals are tropical animals already living close to their upper water temperature limits. These animals have a
close association with single celled plants that live inside the cells of the coral and that provide energy to the
coral by photosynthesis. Corals are said to bleach, or whiten, when they lose their plant cells. Bleaching events
are correlated with local or regional increases in seawater temperature. In the early 1980s, during the first
massive coral bleaching event in the Florida Keys, observations of increased coral diseases began to be
reported (53).
15
IV
W H A T W E K N O W :
• The reefbuilding corals of Florida are now 2.7
degrees Fahrenheit (1 to 1.5 degrees Celsius)
closer to their upper thermal limits than they
were 100 years ago (53).
• Corals stressed by temperature and bleaching
are more vulnerable to pathogens on the outer
surface of the coral, resulting in increases in
coral disease (54, 55, 56).
• Coral diseases have increased substantially
in the Florida Keys due to an increase in seasurface temperatures (53).
W H A T I S P R O B A B L E :
• The thermal tolerance limits of some coral species
will be surpassed.
• The rates of seasurface temperature change predicted by global climate models suggest that coral
bleaching events will be more frequent and severe in
the future (53).
• Current predictions of future coral bleaching events
indicate that certain coral species will not be able to
adapt to warmer water (53).
• Increasing seasurface temperatures will increase
microbial activity in coastal and marine environments, leading to increased algal blooms, coral
diseases, and diseases of other coral reef organisms.
• Increases in seasurface temperatures will continue
to stress corals in the Florida Keys, and severe outbreaks of coral diseases will continue.
W H A T I S P O S S I B L E :
• Coral reef community structure will shift toward
coral species with a higher tolerance of changing
conditions, resulting in major shifts in coral reef
communities and a loss of biodiversity.
Photo courtesy of Paige Gill — Florida Keys NMS



IV. “Drivers” of Climate Change
and Their Effects on Florida’s
Ocean and Coastal Resources
E F F ECT : Increases in Fish Diseases, Sponge Dieoffs, and Loss of Marine Life
Corals are not the only marine organisms adversely affected by increased sea surface temperatures. In the
past 25 years, for example, tropical reef fish have suffered severe outbreaks of Brookynella, a marine disease
caused by a protozoan, or single celled animal, that infects reef fish under stress. Massive die offs of sponges
and blooms of cyanobacteria, which can produce biological toxins, have also been documented during
extended periods of elevated sea surface temperatures (53).
16
IV
W H A T W E K N O W :
• Increased seasurface temperatures in coastal
and marine environments, especially during
slick calm periods in shallow and semienclosed
embayments, lead to episodic dieoffs of
sponges, seagrasses, and other important
components of coastal and marine communities.
• Massive dieoffs of tropical reef fish, caused by
infections of the organism Brookynella, occurred
in 1980 in the Florida Keys and from 1997 to
1998 in the Florida Keys and the Caribbean
(53).
• Massive sponge dieoffs have occurred along
the reef tract, which extends from Miami to the
Dry Tortugas, and in Florida Bay during recent
periods that coincided with elevated seasurface temperatures and doldrum weather periods (53).
• The epidemic dieoff of the black long spined
sea urchin (Diadema antillarum) began on the
Caribbean side of Panama in 1983 (57).
• A massive dieoff of seagrasses occurred in
Florida Bay in 1987, at the same time that a
massive coral bleaching event was occurring
throughout the Keys and Caribbean (53).
W H A T I S P R O B A B L E :
• As seasurface temperatures continue to rise, dieoffs
of marine fauna incapable of moving to cooler
water are likely to become more frequent. Other
factors, such as low levels of dissolved oxygen, the
addition of nutrients and other landbased sources of
pollution, and harmful algal blooms, will exacerbate
these dieoffs.
W H A T I S P O S S I B L E :
• The conditions that contribute to fish diseases and
various dieoffs in the Florida Keys may move to
more northern latitudes. As seasurface temperatures
continue to increase, the impacts may begin to affect more northerly coastal and marine environments
that have thus far escaped these problems.
IV. “Drivers” of Climate Change

Celsius) over the next 100 years (5).

• Ocean currents may shift (53).

Photo courtesy of Roffer's Ocean Fishing

Forecasting Service, Inc.

IV. “Drivers” of Climate Change

and Their Effects on Florida’s

Ocean and Coastal Resources

E F F ECT : Increases in Coral Bleaching and Disease

Corals are tropical animals already living close to their upper water temperature limits. These animals have a

close association with single celled plants that live inside the cells of the coral and that provide energy to the

coral by photosynthesis. Corals are said to bleach, or whiten, when they lose their plant cells. Bleaching events

are correlated with local or regional increases in seawater temperature. In the early 1980s, during the first

massive coral bleaching event in the Florida Keys, observations of increased coral diseases began to be

reported (53).

15

IV

W H A T W E K N O W :

• The reefbuilding corals of Florida are now 2.7

degrees Fahrenheit (1 to 1.5 degrees Celsius)

closer to their upper thermal limits than they

were 100 years ago (53).

• Corals stressed by temperature and bleaching

are more vulnerable to pathogens on the outer

surface of the coral, resulting in increases in

coral disease (54, 55, 56).

• Coral diseases have increased substantially

in the Florida Keys due to an increase in seasurface temperatures (53).

W H A T I S P R O B A B L E :

• The thermal tolerance limits of some coral species

will be surpassed.

• The rates of seasurface temperature change predicted by global climate models suggest that coral

bleaching events will be more frequent and severe in

the future (53).

• Current predictions of future coral bleaching events

indicate that certain coral species will not be able to

adapt to warmer water (53).

• Increasing seasurface temperatures will increase

microbial activity in coastal and marine environments, leading to increased algal blooms, coral

diseases, and diseases of other coral reef organisms.

• Increases in seasurface temperatures will continue

to stress corals in the Florida Keys, and severe outbreaks of coral diseases will continue.

W H A T I S P O S S I B L E :

• Coral reef community structure will shift toward

coral species with a higher tolerance of changing

conditions, resulting in major shifts in coral reef

communities and a loss of biodiversity.

Photo courtesy of Paige Gill — Florida Keys NMS

IV. “Drivers” of Climate Change

and Their Effects on Florida’s

Ocean and Coastal Resources

E F F ECT : Increases in Fish Diseases, Sponge Dieoffs, and Loss of Marine Life

Corals are not the only marine organisms adversely affected by increased sea surface temperatures. In the

past 25 years, for example, tropical reef fish have suffered severe outbreaks of Brookynella, a marine disease

caused by a protozoan, or single celled animal, that infects reef fish under stress. Massive die offs of sponges

and blooms of cyanobacteria, which can produce biological toxins, have also been documented during

extended periods of elevated sea surface temperatures (53).

16

IV

W H A T W E K N O W :

• Increased seasurface temperatures in coastal

and marine environments, especially during

slick calm periods in shallow and semienclosed

embayments, lead to episodic dieoffs of

sponges, seagrasses, and other important

components of coastal and marine communities.

• Massive dieoffs of tropical reef fish, caused by

infections of the organism Brookynella, occurred

in 1980 in the Florida Keys and from 1997 to

1998 in the Florida Keys and the Caribbean

(53).

• Massive sponge dieoffs have occurred along

the reef tract, which extends from Miami to the

Dry Tortugas, and in Florida Bay during recent

periods that coincided with elevated seasurface temperatures and doldrum weather periods (53).

• The epidemic dieoff of the black long spined

sea urchin (Diadema antillarum) began on the

Caribbean side of Panama in 1983 (57).

• A massive dieoff of seagrasses occurred in

Florida Bay in 1987, at the same time that a

massive coral bleaching event was occurring

throughout the Keys and Caribbean (53).

W H A T I S P R O B A B L E :

• As seasurface temperatures continue to rise, dieoffs

of marine fauna incapable of moving to cooler

water are likely to become more frequent. Other

factors, such as low levels of dissolved oxygen, the

addition of nutrients and other landbased sources of

pollution, and harmful algal blooms, will exacerbate

these dieoffs.

W H A T I S P O S S I B L E :

• The conditions that contribute to fish diseases and

various dieoffs in the Florida Keys may move to

more northern latitudes. As seasurface temperatures

continue to increase, the impacts may begin to affect more northerly coastal and marine environments

that have thus far escaped these problems.

IV. “Drivers” of Climate Change