🫖 Coral Reef 2D

Growth, thermal bleaching & acidification model
Ocean Temperature
Ocean Chemistry
Ecology
Time
Legend
Water
Coral
Bleached
Dead / Algae
Calcification rate vs. temperature & pH
Stats
Coral %
--%
Bleached %
--%
Dead %
--%
Growth rate
--%
Healthy
Two real stressors, modeled independently: above ~1–2°C over the normal summer maximum (28°C here), corals expel their symbiotic zooxanthellae and bleach; above ~30.5°C they die. Separately, ocean acidification (falling pH) lowers aragonite saturation, cutting the calcification/growth rate roughly 15% per 0.1 pH unit drop below the 8.1 pre-industrial baseline — corals can look "healthy" colored but still be growing far slower in acidified water.