Marine Reef

Great Coral Reefs

They aren’t as great as they used to be!

The actual “Great Coral Reef” is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland in northeast Australia. It is so large and massive that it can be seen from outer space. It is the world’s biggest single structure made by living organisms. This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps. And it is dying! Global warming?

There’s a concern that rising carbon emissions might kill off the ocean’s coral reefs by 2050. Like, who’s worrying or even thinking about 2050, right? We’re more concerned about living through the predicted 2012 catastrophies.

A recent study by 17 marine scientists in seven countries, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is the most comprehensive review so far of the catastrophic threat global warming poses to coral, and by extension many ocean species. Burning coal, oil and gas adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, the same gas used to give soft drinks fizz. Just as carbon dioxide is absorbed into the drink, ocean water absorbs it from the air.

When the carbon dioxide enters the ocean, it makes the water more acidic.

That interferes with the ability of coral to calcify their skeletons as they can no longer grow and they begin to die. Coral reefs are important because they act as hatcheries and nurseries for open ocean fish. They also protect coasts from storms, and provide fish, recreation and tourism dollars. It is estimated that coral reef fisheries in Asia feed one billion people.

The total economic value of coral is estimated to be $30 billion. Are we killing this planet earth?

The crucial component of the ocean biodiversity is seriously threatened by global warming. “We’re creating conditions on Earth unlike anything most species alive today have experienced in their evolutionary history. That’s no small thing. Corals are feeling the effects of our actions and it is now or never if we want to safeguard these marine creatures and the livelihoods that depend on them,” said Bob Steneck of the University of Maine.

Scientists provide three possible scenarios of what might happen to the world’s coral reefs, all based on the lower range predictions of atmospheric carbon dioxide given by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

(1) In the best-case scenario, carbon dioxide emissions are stabilized at today’s levels of 380 ppm. Coral reefs survive mostly intact.

(2) In the midrange scenario, carbon dioxide levels rise to 450-500 ppm and the temperature goes up 3.6 degrees. Heat-tolerant forms of coral take over and reefs become significantly less diverse, with a decline in fish and other sea life.

(3) In the worst scenario, carbon dioxide levels rise above 500 ppm and the temperature increases more than 5.4 degrees. At this point, the reefs crumble and half of sea life disappears. Red, brown and green algae take over, plankton blooms increase and water quality erodes. Today’s levels are rising quickly due to ever-larger amounts of fossil fuels being burned.

If you believe in global warming or not, it is encumbent on all of us to make the STUDY of what’s happening to our environment, our planet that sustains us. That’s the least we can ALL do. Let’s get educated and drop all the political posturing and finger pointing that only further divides and you know what happens to a house, a people divided.

They fall!

About the Author

ernie@lrchouston.com

Marine Reef Aquarium Revamp

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Photo Mugs ….

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