Coral
Reef Population Decline
If
you have personally seen or have seen pictures of coral reefs, you know they
are breath-taking with their beautiful colors. Have you ever thought your
grandchildren or your great grandchildren may never get to see them? Well, it’s
true. The number of living coral reefs is declining at a fast rate due to
pollution, warming seawaters, over fishing, climate change and extreme weather
events. Coral reefs are made by coral skeletons, which are made up of calcium
carbonate, that gather together and build up over hundreds to thousands of
years. It takes thousands of years to create coral reefs but takes a fraction
of the time to destroy coral reefs.
Figure
1: Picture of living coral reef.
Humans
are a big factor that is contributing to the rapid decline of coral reefs. This
is because people do not know how to respect the environment and just throw
their garbage everywhere. Another human contribution is air pollution, for
example gases that are released into the atmosphere end up in the ocean
polluting the water. Most pollution that ends up in the ocean is preventable.
If people could learn how to clean up after themselves, learn how to respect
the environment and decrease the amount of fossil fuels they burn, then maybe
we wouldn’t have a decline in coral reefs or even some of the other
environmental issues we have due to pollution.
Warming
of seawaters is mostly caused from climate change and extreme weather events. Fluctuation
of weather can cause the sea waters to change temperature which can negatively
affect the coral reefs. This affects them because they need a certain temperature
to live a healthy life, but if the temperature is never regulated then they
can’t live. Warming of the seawaters is caused by climate change that is caused
by human actions. For example, burning of fossil fuels and emitting greenhouse
gasses into the atmosphere causes climate change.
Over
fishing and destructive fishing are more causes of the decline of coral reefs.
If we over fish the herbivorous fish, then the other plants, for example algae,
will start to out compete the coral reefs. Causing the coral reef to start
dying. The fish rely on the coral reef but the coral reef also relies on the
fish. The fish and the coral reef benefit each other and are a part of their
daily living. Destructive fishing, for example using explosives, destroys coral
reefs. So, if we over fish and use destructive ways of fishing there will be a
decline in fish and in coral reefs.
Figure
2: Picture of dead coral reef.
The decline of coral
reefs is not only a devastation to people, it is a devastation to aquatic
wildlife. Many aquatic species live in coral reefs and rely on them for
protection and shelter. If all the coral reefs die off, then many species will
be homeless and eventually die off. Which then will cause an issue in the food
chain. There is nothing positive about the decline of coral reefs. There should
be more being done to help the coral reefs so they don’t die off completely.
People need to realize this is a bigger problem than they think. It is a privilege
that we take advantage of all too often. If we don’t prevent further damage,
these beautiful reefs won’t be available for future generations to enjoy.
The dying
of the coral reefs was definitely preventable. If humans wouldn’t pollute the
environment, causing climate change, or over fish, then the coral reefs would
still be living. If people don’t change their ways of living, then in a couple
of years the coral reefs will be completely gone. Refer to figure two, to see
how sad the dying coral reef is. Figure one shows the beautiful colors of the
coral reef and if we don’t start doing something to help the coral reefs, then
they will all look sad and ugly like figure two. The occurrence of coral reefs
dying is all caused from human disturbances. Help save the coral reefs by
decreasing pollution, over fishing and burning of fossil fuels. Little changes
can help the overall health of the coral reefs.
Citations:
Citations:
Figure 1: http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/01/cayman-islands02.jpg
Figure 2: https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://img.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2016/04/IMG_7296_SITE30_KTietjen_1.jpg&w=480
The Natural Conservancy. 2016. Overfishing and
Destructive Fishing Threats. The Reef Resilience Network. < http://www.reefresilience.org/coral-reefs/stressors/local-stressors/overfishing-and-destructive-fishing-threats/>.
Accessed 1 March 2017.
University of Exeter. 2017. Impacts of Mass Coral
Die-Off on Indian Ocean Reefs Revealed. < https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170220190632.htm>.
Accessed 28 Feb 2017.
Shaina, this is a very important topic. Losing the coral reefs not only means losing the colorful scenery which the coral brings, but also losing the marine animals which depend on the coral reefs for survival. There are hundreds of fish species which use the coral reefs to feed or use them as camouflage. Losing these fish species can really throw off the whole marine ecosystem. Pollution is a terrible things and can be easily stopped if people knew how much damage is really being done to the natural world.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Shaina. Losing our coral reefs is definitely something that could have been avoided. While snorkeling in the Virgin Islands over winter break, I couldn’t help but stare in awe at the amazing color and life that revolved around in in the coral reefs. The death of these reefs doesn’t only mean that our grandchildren and their children will not get to enjoy the beautiful underwater masterpieces, but thousands of marine species that depend on the reefs may not be around much longer either. I believe that the coral reefs are only the beginning of a much larger chain reaction than we may realize.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with everyone here. The loss of our coral reefs is a detrimental loss in this world. Not many people understand what our oceans bring to us. Like Nick had said was that this is such an important topic and it is most of the time overlooked. We as a whole world need to do a better job at looking at how we can recycle more and create less dumping in the ocean so we can preserve these awesome marine animals and their habitat.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Shaina. Because losing the coral reef will be a big loss in the world. The coral reef supports a lot of living creatures. We need to do better on how we manage or recycling, and manage to dump less in the ocean. Because, of the dumping we are harming just not the coral reef, but other marine animals. If we helped preserve, and save the coral reef we will be saving a lot of marine animals homes.
ReplyDelete