Salvaging the Coral Reefs
Where do you see yourself in 20 years? Maybe at the peak of your career, or maybe starting a family, unfortunately, if carbon emissions don’t decrease it’s likely you’ll find yourself at the start of a climate catastrophe. Climate change is caused dominantly by human influences in an attempt to obtain natural resources for profit. These actions include, blast fishing, coal mining, pollution, oil drilling, hydrologic fracturing, and many others. Of all listed being of immense importance, an impactful consequence is the destruction of the coral reefs. The coral reefs serve as a vital ecosystem in our planet’s oceanic life because of its immense diversity among species. In order to preserve our coral reefs and their unique life forms, we must limit and reduce our carbon emissions overall.
There are many problems that lie within climate change, one of which being the bleaching of coral reefs. Coral bleaching dismantles the algae that lives inside of the coral reefs which they utilize as 90% of their energy source (T. P. Hughes). This algae is destroyed during harsh conditions of temperature, change in atmosphere, and light (Hughes). Coral bleaching is also caused by increased carbon emissions in the Earth’s atmosphere. CO2 becomes trapped in the Earth’s ozone layer which causes an increase in overall temperature. The harsh temperatures amplify the water temperatures of the ocean which coral cannot survive in, this is called ocean acidification (Donald Wuebbles). Ocean acidification can be defined as, “the amount of CO2 in the air increases, the chemistry of oceans changes due to the absorption of CO2 which makes it difficult for corals to grow shells and skeletons that protect them from destruction and storms.” (Wuebbles) From this it is evident that carbon emissions are largely at fault of the destruction of coral reefs and the presence of wildlife within them.
As the effects of climate change heighten, the loss of the coral reefs escalates. Although the issue of carbon emissions is largely responsible for the eradication of the coral reefs, there are other precautions to take as well to preserve the coral reefs and wildlife. Some of these things include, decreasing plastic usage. Those who want to contribute to this effort can limit their use of plastic by using reusable water bottles instead of plastic ones, bring personal bags to the grocery store, and pack a lunch in tupperware containers (Wuebbles). While there are many ways to reduce plastic usage, those are a few of the suggested. To reduce personal carbon emissions, individuals can opt to travel on public transportation as opposed to driving everywhere, and travel on planes less often. These measures do not have to be taken to the extreme, but any conscious efforts can aid in solving this issue. Overall, people should take interest in this issue and be attentive to it because everyone lives on this planet together, so it is our responsibility as a whole to ensure that our children and grandchildren have a safe and healthy place to live.
References
“Home.” Coral Reef Alliance, coral.org/coral-reefs-101/reef-threats/global/.
Hugues, T P. “Climate Change, Human Impacts, and the Resilience of Coral Reefs .” Science Magazine, 15 Aug. 2003, sciencemag.org.
Wuebbles, Donald. “How Will Climate Change Affect the United States in Decades to Come?” Eos.org, 3 Nov. 2017, eos.org/features/how-will-climate-change-affect-the-united-states-in-decades-to-come.
Abbie's Blog 