Threats? What threats?
"True is it that we have seen better days". - (Act II, Scene VII; Shakespeare's As You Like It). There is a lot of things out there that damage our reefs and harm the environment, some natural (like hurricanes, typhoons, and storms), and some... not-so-natural.
We humans probably serve as the the most distinguishing culprit for coral reef degradation. Global climate change (which causes coral bleaching) and pollution (all forms) are probably two of our worst crimes against these extraordinary ecosystems.
It's sort of ironic, really. Like the rainforests (coral reefs are even known as the rainforests of the sea...), coral reefs do a lot for our Earth and for us. [A later post will delve in further into the benefits of coral reefs.] And a lot of us treat our environment like its... well. Expendable.
It's pretty overwhelming once you get your head wrapped around just how warped humanity is. I mean, these are just threats to the reefs by humans. The world has a ton of other environmentally damaging problems besides the ones here.
In no particular order, I give you a quick-off-the-top-of-my-head-list: Threats to the coral reef.
- human development/expansion
- overfishing
- land reclamation
- dredging of shipping channels/dumping of earth spoils
- global climate change (bleaching)
- destructive fishing (cyanide, dynamite, bottom trawling, muro-ami/banging on the reef with sticks, etc.)
- careless tourism
- POLLUTION (trash, pesticides, fertilizers, plastics, sewage, spills, etc.)
- sedimentation/soil erosion/deforestation
- coral mining
- freshwater runoff
- acid rain
- acidification
- eutrophication (causes algal bloom)
- Factories/power plants/buildings that release hot water that can kill organisms
- filters that kill fish and plankton
- carbon dioxide (not related to global climate change) - dissolves skeletons
- ozone depletion/ultraviolet radiation (contrary to popular belief ozone depletion and global climate change are NOT related)
- natural threats caused by our influence (e.g. crown of thorns starfish which eats coral used to be eaten by the triton snail* which humans have driven to endangeredment
- growing human population
*we overfish triton snails because their large shells are considered pretty and can be made into trumpets
[image from lolcats.]Informative Links:
WWF's take on threats.
University of Virgin Island's assessment.
This one from the UN Atlas has a great map.
This is from the Coral Reef Alliance (they explain a bit more about carbon dioxide).
And for local interests', a page about Singapore's reef threats.
[image taken from here.]Note: The "sedimentation" column seems a bit trippy. The turbidity of water is pretty high in Singapore - it's sort of really murky. Unless the soil erosion due to coastal development and the like weren't included and the column just represented natural soil erosion... (which should still show more than a "low threat" because of storm/drain runoff...).
posted by Sage @ 8/25/2008 04:13:00 PM
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