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Global warming and how it effects coral reefs
Importance of coral reefs and the consequences of their possible extinction
Importance of coral reefs and the consequences of their possible extinction
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The Great Barrier Reef is known as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It is believed to be one of the most incredible places on this earth. This reef is the largest living organism on this planet and the only living thing on earth visible from space (2011). The warm waters of the southwest Pacific Ocean are the perfect environments to create the world's largest system of coral reefs. The Great Barrier Reef is in such pristine condition that it was listed by the World Heritage Trust as a protected site and is therefore, managed by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to ensure that its beauty is maintained for many travelers and sightseers (Edgar 2010). Due to the complexity of this natural phenomenon, human practices have led to ecological problems for the reef, but preservation efforts can provide future generations the ability to learn from and experience one of the largest oceanic coral ecosystems in the world.
The Great Barrier Reef is located just off the coast of Australia. This marine park stretches over 1800 miles and is almost parallel to the Queensland coast (2011). The reef spans a distance of 65 km wide and reaches 15 to 150 km off shore (2011). At just 500,000 years old, the Great Barrier Reef is a relatively young structure. Yet even younger is the current reef's structure at less than 8,000 years old (Edgar 2010).
The formation of the Great Barrier Reef is very complex. Coral reefs began to form in the region at about 58 to 48 million years ago when the Coral Sea Basin formed (Briney 2010). However, once the Australian continent moved to its present location, sea levels began to change, and coral reefs started to grow fairly quickly, changing climate and sea levels. This consequently caused them to...
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...populations, some countries have invested into fish farming or aquaculture, but some controversy has followed from this practice. Studies have shown that fish farms are not helpful in sustaining the native fish, and have actually harmed them instead. There are two main types of aquaculture: onshore and offshore. These farms, often times due to overcrowded tanks, result in outbreaks of deadly diseases. An example is pop eye, an eye infection that causes swelling of the eye. On offshore farms, domesticated fish often escape through faulty and inferior netting, infecting native fish populations. Alternatively, offshore farms pose a different problem. Management of these facilities has been known to filter pure excess waste products of the fish into the ocean. The contaminated water, also full of nutrients, creates algae blooms and starves sea floor of sunlight.
Earth, an endless source of wonder and beauty, produced the Great Barrier Reef. Hustling and bustling, the Reef thrives like a busy city, teeming with life. Sheltering thousands, corals, maintain the well-being of the Reef; however, the world threatens its nature and delicacy. Populations growing and technological advances increasing, the world becomes more and more disconnected with the natural world, posing an alarming risk for the planet we live on. Although many organizations try to keep the oceans clean, because of human interference and unnatural occurrences, the Great Barrier Reef needs scientific help to adapt corals to new conditions for means of survival, putting pressure on the Australian government to save their ocean environment.
The Great Barrier Reef is one of the most fragile ecosystems in the world, it protects coastlines from the dangerous effects of tropical storms and wave action, it is also home to more than 11,ooo marine life. It is one of the world’s largest coral reefs, so large in fact that you can see if from space.
Leading scientists advise climate change will cause increases to the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Rising sea levels pose a significant risk to coastal communities, while the world’s oceans could become too acidic to support coral reefs and other calcifying marine organisms. Coral reefs contain only six per cent of the area of the Great Barrier Reef, yet they provide critical habitat and food for numerous species in the ecosystem. However, climate change has already impacted coral reefs in the Great Barrier Reef as corals are very helpless against its potential impacts. Eight mass coral bleaching events has occurred since 1979, triggered by unusually high water temperatures. And because of this, zooxanthellae (photosynthetic algae) leave their tissues and corals will have no more colours hence ‘bleaching’. Without the zooxanthellae, the corals that remain gradually starve to death. Once the coral dies, fish and a multitude of other marine species are soon affected. Rising sea levels and more frequent and intense storm surges will see more erosion of Australia’s coastline, causing community and residential
One argument is that many different things are contributing to the destruction of coral rather than climate change including overfishing, marine pollution and cyclones/hurricanes (World Climate Report, 2010). Although this may be true, the main causes of coral reef destruction still relates back to global warming. From 1985 to 2012, coral populations in the Great Barrier Reef have decreased by 50.7 per cent, with 48 per cent due to tropical cyclones, 42 per cent because of crown of thorns starfish (COTS) and 10 per cent directly due to bleaching (De 'ath et al., 2012). It has been indicated that due to global warming, there has been an increase in the number of tropical cyclones (Knutson et al., 2010). However, it has also been found that there is a possibility of cyclones actually mitigating coral bleaching (Baker et al., 2008; Schultz, 2012). With even just a 2°C increase in temperature the probability of COTS survival escalates by 240 per cent under certain conditions (Australian Institute of Marine Science, 2015). However, repeated bleaching events result in higher mortality rates. The Caribbean has been experiences continuous declines of reef sites due to repeated bleaching events (Baker et al., 2008). There is no doubt that oceans surrounding Australia have drastically warmed since 1910 (Bureau of Meteorology, 2014), and this warming affects the
Atlantic salmon have become the species of choice to raise on farms because they are more adaptable to the farming techniques and make better use of feed so they produce more salmon with less feed. Not everybody agrees however, that farmed salmon raised in net pens are healthy for the environment or for you to eat. Over the years, there have been numerous stories in the media that have pointed out the negatives of farm raised salmon. These arguments have ranged from wastes from salmon farms, the spreading of disease from farmed to wild fish, the negative impacts of farm raised fish escapes and interacting with native fish, and recently, the effects of farmed salmon consumption on human health. The latest issue that the media got there hands on and consequently got the public concerned, was a report that polychlorinated... ...
All over the world coral reefs play an important part in our environment. Not only are the reefs colorful and beautiful to look at but the coral reefs house several different types of fish and other sea creatures. Coral reefs have started to decline over the years due to “climate change, El Nino events, overfishing, pollution and other pressures” (Newnham 1). A healthy coral reef can also collapse due to a natural disaster (Newnham 2). There can be several different reasons why a coral reef has started to decline or has been destroyed.
Overfishing is a harmful practice, that will eventually lead to the collapse of aquatic ecosystems, if it’s not dealt with promptly. Overfishing emerges from the combination of our over consumptive society mixed with the great profits that come from hauling in a good catch. The consumers demand for fish in Japan seems to be at an increasingly high rate due to the enjoyment and cultural values that arise from sushi and other traditional dishes involving seafood. Approximately 23 percent of Japan’s protein intake comes from the ocean, and as a nation consumes 7.5 million tonnes of seafood annually. CITATION
Light penetrates the ocean surface only about 20 meters, so after 20 meters there is little to none light. There is much more salt in the Great Barrier Reef than in any freshwater ecosystem, and some biotic components that live near estuaries, where freshwater mixes with the salt water, have to deal with changing amounts of salt in the water this is also known as adaptation. Water contains less oxygen than the air, the density of water in the Great Barrier Reef changes with depth, which changes the biotic components that can live in a given
The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. It is understandable why so many people travel such great distances to witness this eye appealing miracle of nature. They come to see the many species, such as fish, coral, and other marine and bird life. There is no doubt that tourists who visit here will never forget their experience.
Surveys of the Great Barrier Reef suggest that more than 90 percent of it has been affected by bleaching. The Great Barrier Reef, known arguably the most iconic, and well known coral reef on the planet is not immune to bleaching. Penis. The problem however is not only in the GBR, it’s stretching as far as the South Pacific to the Caribbean. With the rate of reef bleaching increasing, the toll taken on the ecosystem will increase as well as many fish who rely on getting food at reefs will have to find new hunting grounds. The world's coral reef population is diminishing; they’re dying at an increasing rate and I believe that the installment of artificial reefs, along with raising of awareness will provide significant change.
The Great Barrier Reef stretches 2,300 kilometres down the eastern coast of Australia. Covering an incredible 344,400 square kilometres, an area the size of Italy, it is more than twice the size of the next largest coral reef. With over 1500 species of fish, 600 coral species and 30 different whale and dolphin species, it is one of the most biodiverse and complex ecosystems on the planet. The reef is said to be 500,000 to 2,500,000 years old and is said to be visible from the moon
Just like in the Tragedy of the Commons, there is a common that fishing companies can utilize to generate revenue. Fish that a corporation doesn’t catch can be viewed as unutilized capital that will just be exploited by a competing company. The problem compounds, and companies start taking more fish than what the population can naturally replenish, leading to a collapse. This is a disaster for not only the species being fished and the fishing companies themselves, but also for other species in the ocean, employed fishermen, seafood restaurants, and many
The Great Barrier Reef is said to be the jewel of Australia. However Australian lifestyles have had a significant impact on the reef since European settlers first arrived. This essay will discuss two of the major problems the reef is subject to, and the strategies in place to secure the reefs future. Australian lifestyles and farming occur predominantly on the coast, which subject’s the reef to large quantities of sediment runoff. In addition to this problem is the outbreak of the crown of thorn starfish. However, significant efforts are being made to address these problems. Equally important is climate change and the threat it has on the reef in coming years. Consequently, the Government and other organizations have been looking at ways to increase the reef's resilience, to better cope with this problem. On the whole, much is being done to benefit the reef. However, with the increasing threat of climate change, there is still a great deal that needs to be done to secure the reefs future.
It’s taken 4 billion years for the Earth to grow. However, humanity took only a few decades to deplete great amounts of the natural resources, the world hurts from deforestation, pollution, and climate change. An astonishing fact is of the destruction of coral reefs. Being one of the most diverse
To maintain a sustainable population of fish, farms must collect billions of wild fish to replenish seed stock, a process that discards up to 85% of wild fish collected in the form of bycatch. Additionally, many of these farmed species depend on wild fish as food and it is estimated that approximately 10% of all wild caught fish are used as aquaculture feed (Naylor, 2000). Furthermore, escaped farm reared fish pose other dangers to wild populations by means of “Disease, competition, and genetic introgression” (Limburg, 2002). Though aquaculture may prove to be one of the more promising