The Red Sea

A recent study has found that Global Warming is slowing the growth of Coral in the Red Sea, and all growth could stop by the year 2070.

By utilizing CT (computed tomography) scans, some scientists over at the WHOI (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) have found that the greenhouse effect (which is the leading cause of global warming) is killing off one of the predominant species of coral in the Red Sea.

The summer temperatures on the sea surface remained at roughly 1.5 degrees Celsius above what’s the norm for the past ten years. The growth of the coral, Diploastrea heliopora, has seen a marked decrease of 30% and as has been quoted by scientists, “could cease growing altogether by 2070” or even sooner, as the research team quoted in the July 16th issue of the journal Science.

“The warming in the Red Sea and the resultant decline in the health of this coral is a clear regional impact of global warming,” said a WHOL postdoctoral investigator, Neal E. Cantin, who is also the co-lead researcher on the project. In the 1980s, he explained, “the average summer [water] temperatures were below 30 degrees Celsius. In 2008 they were approaching 31 degrees.”

This could spell some big trouble for the Red Sea. If the Coral is being affected in such a way, what of the other species? Could it be that the Red Sea will become another DEAD Sea in the very near future? Scientists are working round the clock on a solution for Global Warming, but it seems a solution is still years from being worked out, and in the meantime we are losing out.

The Jordanian government has announced its plans to extract over 10 billion cubic feet of water per year from the Red Sea and send most of it to a desalination plant to produce drinking water. The salty wastewater will then be sent from the desalination plant to the Dead Sea by tunnel. Jordanian Water Minister Maysoun Zu’bi says the project will begin as soon as funding has been arranged.

Environmentalists warn that the endeavour could damage the ecosystem of both seas. Mixing two types of saltwater could produce algae blooms in the Dead Sea, and some environmentalists also fear that the extraction of saltwater will increase the Salinity of the Red Sea.

Dead Sea info

The Dead Sea is a salt lake shared by Jordan and Israel. Its surface and shores are 422 meters below sea level, which is the lowest elevation on the Earth’s surface on dry land. With almost 34% salinity, the Dead Sea is one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world and 8.6 times as salty as the ocean.

During recent decades, the Dead Sea as shrunk rapidly, chiefly due to the diversion of incoming water from the Jordan River. The diverted water is used for households, agriculture and industry. In 1970, the Dead Sea was 395 meters below sea level. In 2006, that number had increased to 418 meters.

The Dead Sea level drop has been followed by a drop in groundwater level and large sinkholes have begun to appear along the western shore.