carnegiemuseumnaturalhistory: Did you know that coral is…

carnegiemuseumnaturalhistory:

Did you know that coral is expected to be the first casualty of the age of humanity (also known as the Anthropocene)?

In the last 30 years alone, half of the world’s coral has died. 

When ocean water warms due to higher CO2 levels, the algae that live in the coral branches can’t survive, leaving the coral without a food source. The Great Barrier Reef experiences more and more coral bleaching daily, as can be seen on this specimen in the new exhibition We Are Nature: Living in the Anthropocene at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. 

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The Anthropocene is the current geological era in which humans are making a profound impact on the geological strata. While the term itself is still being debated by geologists, the museum is embracing it as a social and cultural tool for exploring the broad sum effect humans are having on the planet in the exhibition We Are Nature: Living in the Anthropocene—open now through summer 2018.