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Reef System Collapse

Decent Essays

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 …show more content…

This often includes hunting invasive species such as the lionfish, relocating species to struggling reefs, and adjusting the makeup of the water to improve its quality. The Safina Center has recently been practicing a type of coral relocation, which requires that they break off a piece of a living coral from a healthy reef system, nurse it to health in a lab, and then place it in a struggling reef system with epoxy, in hopes that it will grow successfully and reboot the struggling system (Safina Center Staff 2016). Other projects include moving fish species to new reefs, urchins, and other species to fill in “gaps” in the ecosystem that have been created by anthropogenic factors. This direct involvement with coral reefs works in the short, but the long term effects of tampering with such a sensitive environment have yet to be recorded. This technique also does not offer solutions to the factors that cause coral reef failure, and is not the answer for long term …show more content…

These environments are at extreme risk however, as anthropogenic factors such as invasive species, runoff, overfishing, and global climate change harm them immensely. Although the true impact of the initiatives taken to solve these problems is largely untested due to how young they are, it seems clear that in order to promote the resilience of coral reefs and prevent the potential collapse of the Bahamas, all three techniques must be combined in a fashion that will maximise the possibility for sustainable reef ecosystems. By combining education and governmental policy, while supplementing those large scale changes with direct influence on reef health in order for it to survive, lasting resilience is a real

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