A new study led by researchers from UCL has discovered something surprising in coral reefs for the first time. They found tiny particles from burning fossil fuels inside the corals in a bay near the Columbretes Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. These particles, known as fly-ash or spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs), are a type of pollution that comes from burning things like coal and oil.
This is a big deal because it shows that human pollution is getting into natural places like coral reefs. Scientists have been using corals to study the climate for a while because they grow slowly and can give us information about past environmental conditions, kind of like how tree rings do. But until now, they haven't found pollutants like these in corals, except for microplastics. The lead researcher, Dr. Lucy Roberts, says that finding these pollutants in coral skeletons gives us a clear idea of how much humans are affecting the environment. The pollutants get into the corals as they grow, kind of like how we might breathe in pollution from the air.
Image Source: https://phys.org/
The researchers collected coral samples from a reef off the coast of Spain, where they've been studying coral for twenty years. They made sure to collect the samples far from shore and in a protected area to avoid local pollution. The corals they studied grow about 0.3 centimeters per year. Back in the lab, the researchers dissolved the corals to see what pollutants were left behind. They found more of these pollution particles in corals from between 1969 and 1992, a time when Europe was using a lot of coal.
This matches up with what they've seen in other places in Spain, like mountain lakes, showing that corals can help us track pollution over time. These findings are important because they can help us understand how much humans have changed the environment. Some scientists think that these pollution particles could be used to mark the beginning of a new era called the Anthropocene, where humans have the biggest impact on the planet.
They've already found these particles in other places like lake sediments and ice cores. Dr. Roberts says that this discovery reminds us of how much humans are affecting the environment and can help us understand our impact better. This research was done by UCL, along with collaborators from Spain and the University of Leicester.
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