A new study has found that pollution from fine particles in
the air – mainly the result of burning coal or volcanic eruptions – can shade
corals from sunlight and cool the surrounding water resulting in reduced growth
rates.
Although coral reefs grow under the sea it seems that they
have been responding to changes in the concentration of particulate pollution
in the atmosphere, according to a paper published in the journal Nature
Geoscience by a team of climate scientists and coral ecologists from the UK,
Australia and Panama. Corals are colonies of simple animal cells but most rely
on photosynthetic algae for their energy and nutrients.