Awareness and action : coral bleaching : research study on changed behavior upon receiving information concerning coral bleaching effects

Abstract

Coral reefs are living organisms that act as an important ecosystem for many different kinds of invertebrates and vertebrates. They are essential for marine life to survive yet also provide many benefits for human life as well. “Coral bleaching” is caused by climate change due to the increase in temperature in the ocean’s water which starves the organism and what remains is only its white skeleton. This is one of the biggest threats to coral reefs. This study aims to understand whether, when given information about coral bleaching specifically, people are more likely to participate in actions that prevent coral bleaching through global warming and if so, what their main motive is to do so. This is important for organizations whose goal is to protect the coral reef so that they can make more effective campaigns. A survey is conducted with questions specifically targeting these main goals and statistically analyzed before and after a passage containing facts regarding coral bleaching, to determine if there are any changes in people’s standpoint. Results showed a lack of knowledge of the importance of coral reefs for human life which increases likelihood to take action against coral bleaching once reading the passage, when considering all respondents. Previous belief in cause and existence of climate change influences the likelihood to take action overall. However, Gender and Age play a role in increased awareness and likelihood to take action against coral bleaching.