Coral Crusader Article Summary

Corals build colonies that secrete calcium carbonate to form ocean reefs. When they're healthy, coral reefs provide shelter and food for animals all along the food chain, including the top: us. Across the planet, half a billion people rely, directly and indirectly, on corals for their living. That's why what happens to the 9,000-year-old Great Barrier Reef, as well as to other reefs worldwide, is critical. The floods in Queensland have hurt the Great Barrier Reef by funnelling into the ocean vast plumes of freshwater and agricultural runoff that could severely damage the coral. Besides the extreme rain that sparked the floods, rising ocean temperatures, changes to the ocean's chemistry and the global trade in natural resources — all symptoms of our fossil-fuel economy — are waging a multiform war on the marine

"Coral reefs… are fragile structures living within a narrow range of temperature, clarity, salinity and chemistry. Even a slight increase in ocean temperature, or increased CO2… can cause stresses such as bleaching… These stresses slow the rate of growth of the corrals… With some 60 percent of the world’s coral reefs now losing productivity, it’s becoming a global crisis and a scientific mystery."

Consisting of less than 1% of the world oceans, the coral reefs are ancient animals comprising of thin calcium carbonate deposits within the photic layer. Aside from its biologically diverse ecosystems, coral reefs are major source of food for millions and provides habitats and nursery areas for many marine organisms. Coral reefs also act as a physical buffer to protect the coastlines from tropical storms and erosion. In addition, many local communities rely on coral reefs to generate an income through activities such as fishing and diving. However, 75% of the coral reefs are under threat from induced impacts of humans and climate change (Burke, et al., 2011). This essay looks at the human impacts constantly being inflicted on coral reefs.

Coral reef ecosystems around the globe are threatened by human interferences and climate change. This has led to many scientists conducting studies on global coral reef ecosystems to gain a better understanding of the cause and effects of coral reef damage. In both Hodgson’s (1999) and Carpenter et al.’s (2008) studies, they are aware of the continuous degradation of global coral reef ecosystems. Hodgson's study involved conducting a survey on global coral reef ecosystems to see whether human actions were affecting the health of supposed pristine Coral reefs. Carpenter et al. incorporated Hodgson’s study into a compiled study about the possible extinction of reef building corals due to climate change and anthropogenic effects. Carpenter’s

Coral reefs around the world are in danger. One of the causes is global warming, which has been increasing the temperature of the ocean water resulting in coral bleaching. This essay will focus on damage occurring to the Great Barrier Reef.

Perhaps one of the most significant anthropogenic factors contributing to reef system collapse is not directly attributable to the practices of people within the Bahamas, but the people of the world as a whole. As industry grows stronger, fossil fuels continue to burn at exceedingly high rates, consumption reaches all time highs, and unsustainable livestock practices continue to emit high levels of methane, climate change has caused an increase in temperature worldwide. This increase in temperature has been largely absorbed by the Earth’s oceans, causing them to rise in temperature as well. Since 1880, ocean temperature has increased by 0.65 to 1.06°C. In the next 50 years, it is predicted that ocean temperatures could reach an increase up

As it was already established, a myriad of marine species depend on coral reefs because of the favorable conditions they have to offer. The formation of complex food webs and symbiotic relationships is directly related to specific, stable properties, that if changed, certain organisms would be sure to disappear, disrupting the natural order of the ecosystem. Accordingly, if the water temperature in coral reefs rises, it suddenly becomes an unsuitable environment for algae to bloom, resulting in a lesser number of symbiotic relationships between plankton and corals. Consequently, not only will water filtration systems be hindered, but herbivore grazing will become less common; causing several species of fish to stop frequenting this waters,

From 1979 to 2006 there were at least six mass coral bleaching events, each of which were triggered by warming conditions, including higher water temperatures (Goldberg & Wilkinson, 2004). In 2005 the United States lost half of their Caribbean reefs due to one such bleaching event (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2016). The color of corals typically comes from the zooxanthellae living within the coral tissues, and the white color that is associated with coral bleaching is due to the expelling of the zooxanthellae as water temperatures increase (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2016). Therefore, as coral bleaching seems to be related to increases in water temperature, it is reasonable to predict that coral bleaching events could become more common as global climate change results in further ocean temperature increases. However, bleaching events do not kill corals, rather coral bleaching places the corals under high stress and makes them more vulnerable to other disturbances, which results in

Evidence has shown that the repercussions that the loss of coral has on the environment is irreversible with the possibility of entire ecosystems vanishing. Strategies have been introduced to reduce the global ocean temperatures, which is the main cause of coral bleaching, such as the carbon tax in Costa Rica. Many strategies such as this are slow acting however, therefore, they should be implemented in concurrence with other, more direct, solutions such as marine parks. More needs to be done both long term and short term to stabilise the current climate as there are serious environmental and economic losses that could

Coral reefs are unique and diverse underwater marine ecosystems that are found in many parts of the world. Today these tropical reefs suffer a great deal of environmental stresses and are projected to decline over the next century due to global warming. In Grottoli’s article: The cumulative impact of annual coral bleaching can turn some coral species winners into losers, she elaborates on the effects of annual bleaching on three species of coral. Grottoli took three species of coral such as O. Faveolata, P.asreoides P.divaricata and exposed the treatment groups to high temperatures of 31.5 °C for 15 days while control groups remained at a normal temperature of 30.6 °C for the same amount of days. After treatment species were then weighed and

Corals harbour millions of sea creatures that can only thrive in warm shallow waters in tropical or subtropical oceans. Andrea Grottoli (2001) describes corals as good climate archives because they are widely distributed, their banding patterns are strong dating tools, and their records can span several centuries (from 5 to 25 Myr ago). Corals secrete layers of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) which form their skeletons. The organisms that produce CaCO3 are sensitive to temperature changes in the ocean; thus, when the water temperature changes, the CaCO3 densities in the skeletons also change (Grottoli, 2001). The layers from corals have annual banding patterns which help date the changes that scientists discover. Light-coloured layers appear during the summer when growth is rapid and dark layers form in the winter when growth is slowed down (Figure 1). By studying these banding patterns, scientists can determine the season and temperature of the water these corals grew in and date them accordingly. Scientists drill into corals and take samples which provide accurate information about sea level, temperature and salinity at different times in history. Therefore, by interpreting this data obtained from corals, scientists are provided with a way to reconstruct past climate changes.

11 implications on coral reef ecosystems and dilute the recovering potential of the corals (Harley et

The U. S. Topographical Survey has anticipated that 66% of the world's polar bear sub-populaces will be wiped out by mid-century because of softening of the Arctic ice top. The sea will keep on turning out to be more acidic because of carbon dioxide emanations. As a result of this fermentation, species with hard calcium carbonate shells are defenseless, as are coral reefs, which are essential to sea biological systems. Researchers anticipate that a 3.6 degree Fahrenheit increment in temperature would wipe out 97 percent of the world's coral reefs.

Coral reefs have been undergoing global degradation due to increasing natural and anthropogenic impacts for at least the last half-century. The intensity and frequency of stressors, including global climate change, have rapidly increased in number over recent years (Hughes & Connell 1999; Hoegh-Guldberg et al. 2007; Pandolfi et al. 2011). Frequent disturbances such as hurricanes/cyclones, predation outbreaks, diseases and mass bleaching events eat-away at the percent of living coral cover and without recovery, the available space is colonized by sponges, soft corals, and macroalgae. These alternative organisms are often competitive dominants in less than ideal conditions (Norström et al. 2009). The transition is termed a phase-shift from

Coral reefs are diverse underwater ecosystems that are held together by calcium carbonate structures secreted by corals. Reefs are built by colonies of different species that are found in marine water. Reefs are home to a variety of creatures such as fish, urchins, sponges, sharks, turtles, jelly fish, and thousands of other species and plants. Coral reefs are the most diverse of all marine eco systems and often called the rainforest of the sea. The total area of the world’s coral reefs amount to less then one quarter of 1% of the entire marine environment. Which is crazy because coral reefs are home to 25% of all marine life on the planet. Coral reefs have survived tens of thousands of years of natural change, but major threats from mankind, pollution, and climate change have caused this under water eco system to have serious threats in the future. Coral reefs are dying around the world. Already human activity and climate change have destroyed a quarter of the world’s coral reefs. The rest of the remaining coral reefs are in great danger. While these beautiful and colorful underwater habitats flourish all around the world, there are many factors that can affect coral reefs and cause devastating outcomes to marine life. Climate change, pollution, over fishing, and disease outbreaks each play a significant role to negative and damaging effects of coral reefs. It is important to be more involved with this environmental issue to help take the right steps to saving the