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EILAT, ISRAEL - JULY 11: Ayala Porat, a PhD student at IUI and Kerem Citak, an academic intern at IUI, set coral larvae net traps at ca. 6 metres depth to collect coral larvae in situ during a sunset dive. Divers return the following morning to collect the larvae collected in a jar at the top of the net at The Interuniversity Institute (IUI) for Marine Sciences in Eilat, Israel. Collected coral larvae are used in experiments assessing the environment's impact on development and survival in juvenile life phases. Despite sea temperatures rising faster in the Gulf of Eilat/Aqaba than the global average rate, the coral reef of the northernmost point of the Red Sea exhibit remarkable resilience and seem immune to the effects of global warming. Scientists are trying to understand the biological capacity of these corals to live at higher temperatures, hoping this knowledge could help reefs elsewhere in the world. The scientific community estimates that over 90% of reefs will die by 2050 due to climate change and direct human impact. The Gulf of Eilat/Aqaba corals might be one of the last remaining complete ecosystems by 2100. However, there's a glimmer of hope that this surviving coral reef could be used as a blueprint for an entirely new climate-resilient ecosystem. (Photo by Lukasz Larsson Warzecha/Getty Images).
EILAT, ISRAEL - JULY 11: Ayala Porat, a PhD student at IUI and Kerem Citak, an academic intern at IUI, set coral larvae net traps at ca. 6 metres depth to collect coral larvae in situ during a sunset dive. Divers return the following morning to collect the larvae collected in a jar at the top of the net at The Interuniversity Institute (IUI) for Marine Sciences in Eilat, Israel. Collected coral larvae are used in experiments assessing the environment's impact on development and survival in juvenile life phases. Despite sea temperatures rising faster in the Gulf of Eilat/Aqaba than the global average rate, the coral reef of the northernmost point of the Red Sea exhibit remarkable resilience and seem immune to the effects of global warming. Scientists are trying to understand the biological capacity of these corals to live at higher temperatures, hoping this knowledge could help reefs elsewhere in the world. The scientific community estimates that over 90% of reefs will die by 2050 due to climate change and direct human impact. The Gulf of Eilat/Aqaba corals might be one of the last remaining complete ecosystems by 2100. However, there's a glimmer of hope that this surviving coral reef could be used as a blueprint for an entirely new climate-resilient ecosystem. (Photo by Lukasz Larsson Warzecha/Getty Images).