1. Incorporating cloud cover into bleaching prediction models can delay the frequency of coral bleaching in some regions.
2. The mitigating effect of clouds is overwhelmed by thermal stress in moderate emission scenarios by mid-century.
3. Thermal adaptation or acclimation by corals could shift the bleaching projections by up to 40 years, yet coral reefs would still experience dangerously frequent bleaching conditions by the end of century in SPP2-4.5.
The article “Cloudiness delays projected impact of climate change on coral reefs” is a peer-reviewed research article published in PLOS Climate and written by Pedro C. González-Espinosa and Simon D. Donner. The article presents a study that develops temperature- and light-based bleaching prediction algorithms using historical sea surface temperature, cloud cover fraction and downwelling shortwave radiation data together with a global-scale observational bleaching dataset observations, and applies it to CMIP6 output from the GFDL-ESM4 Earth System Model under four different future scenarios to estimate the effect of incorporating cloudiness on future bleaching frequency, with and without thermal adaptation or acclimation by corals.
The article is generally reliable and trustworthy as it is based on scientific evidence from peer-reviewed research studies, datasets, and models which are all cited appropriately throughout the text. The authors also provide supporting information such as figures, tables, code repositories for further analysis, as well as acknowledgments for funding sources which adds to its credibility. Furthermore, the authors present both sides of the argument fairly without any bias or promotional content which makes it an unbiased source of information about climate change impacts on coral reefs.
However, there are some points that could be improved upon such as providing more detailed explanations about how exactly they developed their model and what methods were used to analyze their data so that readers can better understand their findings and replicate their work if needed. Additionally, while they do mention potential risks associated with climate change impacts on coral reefs such as increased frequency of mass coral bleaching events leading to widespread loss of living corals, they do not explore counterarguments or other possible solutions that could help mitigate these risks which could have been beneficial for readers looking for more comprehensive information about this topic.