Speculative Fact #280: Super Corals to Save Our Reefs

Earth is on the cusp of vast ecological cataclysms – and it’s sadly due to the impact our industry has had on the environment. One of the many outcomes of our carbon emissions is that the oceans are becoming more acidic, which leads to the ‘bleaching” of the coral reefs.
            Scientists have demonstrated that they can breed “super coral” by speeding up their natural evolution and beef them up against the changes we expect in Earth’s future. Amidst the fears of GMOs, largely due to consumer misconceptions and hysteria, the researchers remind us that animal and agricultural domestication has been happening on Earth for thousands of years – to our great benefit. The methods used to create the super coral are more like the way we selectively breed dogs than some insane lab experiment.
            SF is littered with horrific post-apocalyptic scenarios as the future appears to get bleaker, but the tweaking of ocean life begs a greater question about how and why we should re-imagine ecology as we all struggle to adapt to our changing planet.

-Jonathan Hernandez

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