It is a process where the corals are trained to survive in warmer and more acidic environments by adjusting growing conditions in the tanks at the land-farm. This process helps corals enhance their resilience to rising temperatures and other changing environmental factors. Native corals can also be grown together in order to select resilient traits. (Coral Vita)

Photo source: Coral Vita

It is a reduction in the pH of the ocean over an extended period of time, caused primarily by the uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. It is a direct result of increased human-induced carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere.

As CO2 dissolves in seawater, it causes a series of chemical reactions which decreases the ocean’s pH, making the oceans more acidic. (3) Ocean acidification reduces the availability of calcium minerals needed by corals for skeleton building and repair. (4) Coral reefs with breakable, slow-growing corals erode more quickly than they grow naturally.

Present ocean acidity is occurring at a rate approximately ten times faster than anything experienced in the last 300 million years. These changes in the ocean pH levels will persist as long as concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere continue to rise. (3)

You can learn more about ocean acidification here.

It is the damage (and potential death) of coral reef ecosystems. It is not natural and is almost entirely caused by human activities, both through direct exploitation of reef resources and through indirect impacts from human actions on land and in coastal areas. (1)

Increased ocean temperatures and higher ocean acidity are global threats to coral reef ecosystems. (NOAA) These threats are caused by warmer atmospheric temperatures and increasing levels of carbon dioxide released from human activities. Global reef degradation threatens the health and biodiversity of marine life as well as the individuals dependent on reefs to support their livelihoods.

Photo source: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (BGRMPA)

It is the whitening of coral that results from the loss of a coral’s symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) or the degradation of the algae’s photosynthetic pigment due to stressful environmental conditions, particularly rising water temperatures and pollution. (Britannica)

If corals are bleached for prolonged periods, they eventually die. Coral bleaching events lead to the death of large amounts of corals. The potential recovery of such bleaching events is hindered due to the effects of ocean acidification. (5)

Photo source: NOAA

It is the catching of too many fish in an area of the sea at a fast rate that does not give the species enough time to reproduce and therefore leads to the fish population’s decline. Overfishing is closely tied to bycatch, which is the capture of unwanted sea life while fishing for a different species. (6) Bycatch is also a serious threat to marine life. About 40% of fish caught worldwide is unintentionally caught and is partly thrown back into the sea, either dead or dying. (6)

Herbivorous fish clean coral’s macroalgae off their surface; however, overfishing reduces fish populations. With the absence of fish, the algae can suffocate and kill corals. (7) You can read more about overfishing here.

Photo source: Mohamed Adel

It is land-based technology that involves setting up high-tech farms on land to restore dying coral reefs. The land-based coral farms incorporate the latest coral restoration innovations while also scaling the farming process to reach the levels needed for ecological restoration. As an example, a single land-based Coral Vita farm can potentially produce millions of restored corals. (Coral Vita)

Photo source: Coral Vita

It is a process used to grow coral, in which existing coral fragments are taken from the ocean, cut into small pieces and placed near each other but with gaps in between. This triggers a healing process and causes the corals to fuse back into themselves. The method accelerates coral growth rates by up to 50 times, growing mature species in 6-12 years rather than decades while vastly expanding the diversity of species for restoration. (Coral Vita)

Photo source: Coral Vita

It is a process where the corals are trained to survive in warmer and more acidic environments by adjusting growing conditions in the tanks at the land-farm. This process helps corals enhance their resilience to rising temperatures and other changing environmental factors. Native corals can also be grown together in order to select resilient traits. (Coral Vita)

Photo source: Coral Vita