Reef Destruction is Ecological

andrewmac0

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Dec 4, 2012
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To die for scenic reefs in Red or the South China Sea is dying; pretty fishes and panoramic colors of soft and hard corals are now down to a complex ecology similar to tropical forest ecosystems. Compare to the microorganisms that makes the whole thing more tremendous in doing all the destruction, the predators and consumers, the producer algae and the tiny invertebrates mean nothing.

Catalina Reyes of CoECRS. (Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies) and the University of Queensland has published her work alongside 4 colleagues, on the bacteria, fungi and algae that live in this most complex marine ecosystem.

The change in this ecosystem recently is because of our overproduction. Oceans now are Cola like, the CO2 we made over the last century or two has made the sea water to feel like one. As to Catalina’s research, the acid has effects and that are clearly identifies in the micro-world of corals. She links it all up and explained, “So fish, turtles, sharks, lobsters and other reef organisms may lose their homes, threatening coral reef biodiversity and the livelihoods of tens of millions of people.” All reefs, molluscs and others are basically made up of Calcium carbonate, accepted as true to hard corals as well. Due to different reasons erosion of the reef is just a normal phenomenon but at present the erosion has become excessive that it destroys the reefs worldwide at a really disturbing rate.

The well equilibrium of attrition, storm damage, predation and growth has been distorted. Today, deterioration seems to be the pattern in lieu of slow growth. And because of the acid now less and less carbonate is available. You have probably had experimented such in your school laboratory. Micro-boring organisms also eliminate the coral skeleton as usual consequently oceans ends up with no reef!

Catalina found a 35% rate of erosion in the second example when computer simulation by the researchers compared current increases in carbon dioxide levels and their effects on reefs with those lesser increases which we hope to achieve by cutting emissions.

The dreadful effect of “doing nothing about emissions” was a doubling 100% of the erosion. Because of acidic conditions, Micro-boring organisms became much more active and seemed to have a higher temperatures and pH (acidity) that causing the destructions of more corals. A great number and the most common of all was a tiny alga that has the ability in photosynthesizing even in the low light conditions as it penetrated deep into the corals’ hearts.
 
Savin' the Great Barrier Reef gonna cost billions...

Australia to Spend Billions to Save Great Barrier Reef
December 02, 2016 — Australia will spend $1.3 billion ($965.3 million U.S.) in the next five years to improve the water quality and well-being of the Great Barrier Reef to keep the World Heritage Site from being placed on the United Nation’s “in danger” list.
But activists say the money, in addition to the $1 billion fund announced earlier, is insufficient and want the government to take more concrete action to protect the reef. A negative rating for the Great Barrier Reef, located off the country’s northeast coast, would be embarrassing for the Australian government and damage its lucrative tourism industry.

Reef nears 'in danger' label

In the first progress report to the UN’s scientific arm, UNESCO, after it stopped short earlier this year of listing the reef as “in danger,” Australia said it would spend $1.3 billion improving the world’s largest living ecosystem. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had pledged a $1 billion fund for the Great Barrier Reef in June. Much of the accelerated spending will address water quality and ecosystem health, Australia said in the UNESCO report, including programs to minimize spillage of chemicals from farming and tightening oversight of connected waterways. “This report will hopefully see Australia stay off the UNESCO in danger watch list,” said Josh Frydenberg, Australia’s minister for the environment and energy.

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Australian Senator Pauline Hanson listens to marine scientist Alison Jones (left) as she displays a piece of coral on the Great Barrier Reef off Great Keppel Island, Queensland, Australia, Nov. 25, 2016. Australian scientists say warming oceans year 2016 have caused the biggest die-off of corals ever recorded on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.​

Environmental groups, which believe the reef needs more investment than the government has committed to, criticized the progress report, coming just days after confirmation of significant damage. “It is unacceptable that this government is now congratulating itself over its handling of the reef’s health during that same period without promising any meaningful improvement,” said Shani Tager, reef campaigner, Greenpeace Australia.

Biggest die-off

Earlier this week, Australian scientists said two-thirds of a 700 km (435 miles) stretch of coral within the Great Barrier Reef has been killed in the past nine months, the worst die-off ever recorded on the World Heritage site. Their finding of the die-off in the reef’s north is a major blow for tourism at the reef which, according to a 2013 Deloitte Access Economics report, attracts about $5.2 billion ($3.9 billion U.S.) in spending each year. Climate scientists argue that increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere traps heat radiating from earth, creating global warming and damaging coral. Australia is one of the largest carbon emitters per capita because of its reliance on coal-fired power plants for electricity.

Australia to Spend Billions to Save Great Barrier Reef

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Scientists record biggest ever coral die-off on Australia's Great Barrier Reef
November 29, 2016 - Warm seas around Australia's Great Barrier Reef have killed two-thirds of a 700-km (435 miles) stretch of coral in the past nine months, the worst die-off ever recorded on the World Heritage site, scientists who surveyed the reef said on Tuesday.
Their finding of the die-off in the reef's north is a major blow for tourism at reef which, according to a 2013 Deloitte Access Economics report, attracts about A$5.2 billion ($3.9 billion) in spending each year. "The coral is essentially cooked," professor Andrew Baird, a researcher at James Cook University who was part of the reef surveys, told Reuters by telephone from Townsville in Australia's tropical north. He said the die-off was "almost certainly" the largest ever recorded anywhere because of the size of the Barrier Reef, which at 348,000 sq km (134,400 sq miles) is the biggest coral reef in the world.

Bleaching occurs when the water is too warm, forcing coral to expel living algae and causing it to calcify and turn white. Mildly bleached coral can recover if the temperature drops and the survey found this occurred in southern parts of the reef, where coral mortality was much lower. While bleaching occurs naturally, scientists are concerned that rising sea temperatures caused by global warming magnifies the damage, leaving sensitive underwater ecosystems unable to recover.

UNESCO's World Heritage Committee stopped short of placing the Great Barrier Reef on an "in danger" list last May but asked the Australian government for an update on its progress in safeguarding the reef. Australia will lodge that update on Friday, said a spokesman for Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg. In June, during an election campaign, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull promised A$1 billion in spending to protect the reef.

Climate scientists argue that increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere traps heat radiating from earth, creating global warming. Australia is one of the largest carbon emitters per capita because of its reliance on coal-fired power plants for electricity. "Climate change is killing the Great Barrier Reef," said environmentalist Charlie Wood, director of 350.org, an anti-fossil fuels movement. "The continued mining and burning of coal, oil and gas is irreparably damaging the climate. If we want our kids to enjoy the Great Barrier Reef for generations to come, we must act now to keep fossil fuels in the ground," Wood said in an emailed statement.

Scientists record biggest ever coral die-off on Australia's Great Barrier Reef
 

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