Coral Bleaching

The elevated temperature is the main effect of global warming and the affects branch out from there. Starting with bleaching and algae blooms that make the coral weak with starvation. Then if the lack of nutrients does not kill the coral the acidity of the water will slowly disintegrate the coral. Finally the storms will break up whatever coral remains. This cycle will continue until something is done to stop global warming.

This contamination has lead to great loss of coral coverage. As well as this, nutrient rich waters have also resulted in stimulating the growth of many bioeroders such as fleshy algae, which consistently attack the structure of the reef (Hallock. P, Schlager. W,

Coral reef systems in the Caribbean are presently stressed due to coral bleaching, overfishing, global climate change, and disruptive algal growth (Wilkinson and Souter 2008). The addition of a piscivorous, predatory invasive species, such as lionfish, will cause permanent damage to that ecosystem. Lionfish have caused a reduction in forage fish biomass, an increase in algal growth due to their removal of herbivorous fish, and an increase in competition with native fish (Morris et al. 2009). Lionfish have few, if any, natural predators due to the presence of venomous dorsal, ventral and anal spines (Halstead et al.

Ocean acidification is affecting marine life immensely. When our oceans keep acidifying it causes carbonate ions to be less plentiful and these ions are an important part for marine life such as oysters, clams, sea urchins, and corals to get there structures built and maintained such as their shells and coral skeletons(1). Ocean acidification can also affect some fish 's ability to detect predators putting them at a greater risk and causing the entire food web to be in danger(1). The organisms that are having the most trouble adapting to rising acidity is corals because they produce calcium carbonate to make their rocky outer layer that forms coral reefs(2). Coral reefs are the beautiful ecosystems that are booming with life but since the acidity has been rising and so has the overall temperature of the ocean the coral has been bleaching and has not been able to grow well or even stay alive(2).

Thirdly, human problems resulting from jellyfish blooms, Stings from pelagic cnidarians because discomfort and sometimes medical emergencies for swimmers and waders primarily in warm marine waters worldwide (reviewed in Fenner & Williamson 1996, Burnett 2001). When pelagic cnidarians occur in great abundance, stinging can occur at epidemic levels. As human populations and recreational activities continue to increase along the coasts, stinging is projected to become an increasing problem (Macrokanis et al. 2004). Fourthly, Cultural eutrophication, Eutrophication is considered to be one of the major global pollution problems (e.g.

Learning of the problem and identifying major aspects of it is the key to finding an answer to finally being able to solve it. Tourism may have caused the downfall of the coral reefs, but it also is an answer to saving them. Finding weak points in how we use to protect coral has been able to offer us a lot of new more effective ways to keep coral preserved and protected. Understanding why and how global warming is affecting the coral reefs so much has given us a lot of breakthroughs to possibly keep coral alive and well through it all. The main thing that was learned when looking into the past and seeing the root of the problem is that everyone can help make a difference when it comes to preserving coral.

Chemicals from industries and agricultural sites can run-off into the ocean. When the toxic chemicals from this and sewage get into the ocean’s ecosystem; it leads to reduction in oxygen levels, decay of oceanic plant life, and severe decline of the quality of the sea water. Toxic chemicals that get into the ocean raise the temperature drastically, this is known as thermal pollution. Marine animals that cannot survive in these higher temperatures will eventually

The main reason this has a social impact is because of fear. The fear of eating an infected bunch of shellfish stops companies and customers from buying them ("Paralytic Shellfish" 1 ). By the companies and regular customers not buying them, the companies lose money. This causes them to go into an economic depression, which may cause lose of money or bankruptcy ("Paralytic Shellfish" 2 ). The ecological effect is mainly the infection of certain marine life and may cause some species to slowly die off.

The coral provides a protected habitat for the zooxanthellae and the zooxanthellae provide nutrients that the coral utilizes to survive and thrive. Fertilizer runoff occurs when fertilizer flows over the surface of the land and is carried by rain water into streams, rivers, lakes, and the ocean. Once in the ocean, the nitrogen found in fertilizer is absorbed by algae resulting in large algal blooms and excess macroalgae growth; this process is known as eutrophication (Kroon 1987). The overabundance of algae negatively affects zooxanthellae, and thus coral, because the algae and zooxanthellae compete for resources such as space and sunlight and zooxanthellae need sunlight for photosynthesis (Bell et al., 364). When zooxanthellae do not obtain an adequate amount of sunlight they become stressed and either leave their coral shelter or die (Bell et al., 364).

I choose this article because I think it’s really cool that we are finding ways to repair the coral reefs. The coral reefs are already in danger of extinction because of global warming, so finding a way to try and repair them is great. Ever since the Industrial revolution, the oceans have been taking in more carbon dioxide. The quantities of the gas taken in by the oceans are large enough that now some areas of the oceans have become more acidic, a phenomenon called ocean acidification. Ocean acidification is harming many groups of animals, including coral reefs.

The toxic killing algae can make humans sick. For the aquatic animals, these toxins attack mainly the organisms liver and nervous system (Nitrogen and

by Brett Garling from the Mission Blue Sylvia Earle Alliance, states that factory farming contributes to the sea temperature rising and ocean acidification because the rising of atmospheric temperature is also rising global ocean temperatures, that leads to the widespread of coral bleaching. He says this is a problem because bleaching slows down coral growth which makes them vulnerable to catch a disease, and later leads to large-scale reef die-off(Garling). Also Garling states that a “greater concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing the acidity of the global ocean,handicapping the extensive roster of marine organisms that build shells or

Well, shells are made of calcium carbonate which is a compound. In order for a shell to grow and say alive it needs to combine calcium ions with carbonate ions. However as the oceans become more acidic the carbonate ions, that are found naturally in the seawater, bind more easily with the h+ ions and prevent shell formation. Therefore any aquatic species that rely on carbonate ions to survive find it increasingly more difficult to build or maintain shells since the carbonate ions are neutralizing the h+(acid) before they have the chance to combine with the calcium ions. As you can see, all the CO2 emissions that we produce are theoretically decreasing the oceans biodiversity and this can be a threat to some aquatic animals.

Overfishing is certainly an environmental issue because it affects the planets ecosystem due to human interference. One example of this is when a marine species is exploited, other species are also affected directly. According to the article, ‘Global Consequences of Overfishing’ states that, “...recent studies suggest that overfishing of large shark species has had a ripple effect in the shark 's food chain, increasing the number of species, such as rays, that are usual prey for large sharks, which result in declining stocks of smaller fish and shellfish favored by these species” It is also important to mention that overfishing often leads to the killing of other animals unintentionally. This is called bycatching. Some marine species that are affected by bycatching are juvenile fish, bottom feeding organisms, sharks, whales, sea turtles, and birds.

Because farmed fish are raised in close quarters it makes them more susceptible to disease and illnesses. One serious problem that is reoccurring in farmed fish is sea lice. Sea lice are parasites that occur naturally on many different fish but due to the condition of being farm raised they spread faster and even fish in the open ocean passing by the the farms are being infected. This in turn effects other fish in the ocean. The fish are often given pesticides to combat sea