Wednesday, February 27, 2013

The End of Coral Reefs?


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    Coral Reefs, one of the more beautiful natural phenomena that may not be around for very much longer according to studies on CO2 emissions. The heightening temperatures of the surface water of the ocean is causing this bleaching because it's just too hot for the algae and they die off leaving the "skeleton" of the coral behind. A bleached out reef also effects the vertebrates and invertebrates that inhabit them. Reefs only make up 1% of surface area of the ocean, but occupy about 25% of marine fish species, so it's not just the coral and algae being effected here. The loss of these reefs holds a much bigger impact than we realize.  

     There is still time, however, because most reefs are predicted to be bleached out by around 2040 (assuming that the emission levels only stabilize, or increase). This is only a prediction, but the actions that everyone does is the cause, and the conditions of the reefs are the effect of the decisions we make. The world has lost enough reefs to bleaching already, and we should not sit back and watch the rest die off either because they could be gone in our lifetime. 

     If the carbon emissions were to either halt or even reduce, the reefs would have a 23 year longer life expectancy. If we were to cut down on these carbon emissions, then we could even expect flourishing of reefs once they have adapted to the changes in the waters. Why let such a beautiful thing die? I think this means that we all have to find ways to cut down our carbon footprints, and it's not a difficult goal to attain, even some change is better than none at all!    

IT'S TIME FOR CHANGE PEOPLE.

I've even left a couple of websites on how to calculate how much CO2 we contribute per household, and ways to cut down and make small changes.




Posted by Alicia Champagne (1)

9 comments:

  1. I think that coral is so beautiful and it is a very important part of the ecosystem. I saw somewhere about this research/conservation project. The researchers utilized the self-propagation of the coral to multiply them and grow more. It is good to know that someone is doing something! Here is the website for the research project. http://marinesciencecenter.com/coral2.htm

    Posted by Jessica Westover (3)

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    1. That's a cool link, I hope there is more progress in their research soon, I would love to see what they find. It makes me sad that the coral reefs in the Caribbean Sea are almost all bleached out, and it's really bad for the Atlantic coast because the warmer water only makes for more intense hurricanes that will do a lot more damage.

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  2. do you think that people will realize that killing off the corals will have a devasting effect on the entire ecosystem which means that we the human species will also be affected?
    Tonya Sulham(3)

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    1. People probably don't know that it will actually affect them because nobody is informing the mass public about issues like these and only people who care know about the effects, so I think social networking should be used to spread important informational matters such as this.

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  3. Changing pH levels of our ocean are of great concern for all of the creatures and life forms that exist. Thank you for also including the link so we may all check and see how we can reduce our carbon footprint!

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    1. Those links are great! I used them in a Conservation Biology class I took at Holyoke Community College, and I wanted to share them with you guys and hope to show other people as well. Learning how to reduce your footprint is the first step in actually reducing it :)

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  4. I learned about coral bleaching in my ecology class last semester and its so sad to know that people aren't doing anything about decreasing their carbon footprints in order to save the beautiful reefs. I think that most people just don't realize that by losing coral reefs, were also losing vital species that rely on those habitats for survival. Its honestly small, simple actions that can make a big difference, like unplugging appliances in your house when they are not in use could maybe save a coral reef! Some action is better than none!

    Gabrielle Wertheim (3)

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    1. I agree, something is better than nothing, or just leads to even bigger steps. I just hope that enough progress is made in time to save what is left of these reefs.

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  5. I think it is important to recognize that the bleaching of coral reefs will diminish ecosystems for many different species, especially since they inhabit 25% of fish species. Also, a number of fish rely primarily on the reef for food (other fish and algae). This is going to pose a huge problem in the future, eventually it will even affect our food system.

    Lindsey Dugas (1)

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