Summary

1. 1. What are coral reefs?

Corals are living animals that are grouped together to form a large reef. There are tiny polyps and sessile, or immobile creatures, that come together and secrete calcium carbonate to form reefs. But, they cannot live on their own. Algae, or Zooxanthellae, rely on these polyps for shelter and the reefs use the algae for nutrients and their color. The corals and algae are highly sensitive to changes in water temperature, chemical composition in the water, and any type of destruction. When the ocean acidifies at a high rate or the water temperature gets warmer in the summer seasons, the algae flee the reef area because it is too warm or there is too much acid in the water. If the algae are gone, the corals cannot function properly. This is called bleaching, one of the worst threats to coral reefs today. Although bleaching severely injures the corals, they can withstand nothing more than 10 days without algae. This means that after the coral is bleached, there is a chance that the Zooxanthellae will come back to some tissues of the coral, but the algae doesn’t cover as much as it did before the bleaching. The corals slightly recover, but there would still be a substantial amount of bleached coral.

1. 2. Why are coral reefs important to the world?

Countries that have coral reefs become huge areas of tourism, create jobs, support local businesses, protect coastlines from storms and erosion, help create new medicines, and provide people with plenty of fish. Coral reefs provide recreation activities for tourists, such as snorkeling, scuba diving, and fishing for fun. Because the areas that have coral reefs are such hotspots for people, restaurants, hotels, and other businesses also benefit from the corals. Globally, coral reefs help generate 36 billion dollars because of the tourists. There are countless restaurants, hotels, and other businesses that rely heavily on coral reefs to keep the tourists in the area. These places provide jobs and can only do that because of the amount of tourists that come to visit the coral reefs. During storms, violent waves, and floods, coral reefs are structured a certain way that causes the waves to break before they touch the coastline. The coral reefs reduce the amount of energy being pushed into the coast, which decreases erosion and protects people and communities from large storms. In addition to protecting coastlines, coral reefs help create medicines for cancer, arthritis, human bacterial infections, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, viruses, and other diseases. They do this by creating chemical defenses that protect them from any predators. Scientists use this chemical to protect humans from their predators, or disease. Finally, coral reefs also provide plenty of fish for recreational fishing as well as fishing for federal companies or regular businesses. The National Marines Fisheries Service says that about 100 million dollars is the commercial value of only the United State’s coral reefs. Imagine how much all the coral reefs in the world help produce for fishery businesses.

1. 3. How are humans affecting coral reefs?

Pollution, ocean acidification, bleaching, oil spills, and physical destruction have been human caused issues for corals since the 1980s. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is surrounded by agriculture. This causes pollution because the rivers near the farms will carry pollutants, trash, and agricultural manure to the ocean waters. The pollutants that run off into the corals are usually pesticides, fertilizers, and heavy metals. Other coral reefs around the world have the same problem, though most do not have issues with manure.

Ocean acidification is one of the main threats to corals next to bleaching. When the acidity in the ocean changes at all, the ocean’s balance is tipped and the corals are bothered. Oceans absorb carbon dioxide, which mixes with seawater to create carbonic acid. This carbonic acid is a key element in preserving coral reefs because the corals use carbon dioxide to create their exoskeletons and hard shells. If the acidity in the ocean rises, the calcium carbonate in the corals becomes less. The pH of the water gets lower and there are less carbonate ions. Without the carbon dioxide that is in the calcium carbonate and the carbon acid, the skeletons of the corals get weaker, which eventually kills the coral. The reason for the rise of the ocean’s acidity is carbon emissions from leaks from industrial equipment, fuel power for heat, and the use of fossil fuels for energy.

In 2016, the Great Barrier Reef was hit with their third mass bleaching event since 1998. All five mass bleaching events, including the one in 2016, were due to the rise in ocean temperatures, which is ultimately caused by human activity. In this event, the northern part of the GBR (Great Barrier Reef) was affected more than the southern part because of the difference of temperature. Some parts of the reefs were over 90% bleached. Although there is a chance the coral can revive, it is a very small chance and cannot recover the whole reef. The effect of this event was the most severe and most widespread in the GBR at the time.

In September of 2020, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) made an oil deal that would allow oil to be transported through the Eilat airport and the Red Sea. There is a large possibility that the oil carriers could have multiple spills because the coral reefs are about 200m away from where the oil will be unloaded. Oil spills near corals can directly affect humans because of the amount of fish that live near coral reefs. Coral reefs are a hotspot for fishermen and contaminated fish would be everywhere without anyone knowing, if there was an oil spill from previous days. The toxicity in oil prevents coral reproduction, growth, behavior, and development.

On July 25, 2020, a Japanese ship full of oil hit an area of corals and leaked into the southeast coast of Mauritius, where there were coral reefs and lagoons. This spill not only affected the coral reefs, but also the fish that were in that area and some of Mauritius’ tourist flow because of the ruined lagoons and water color. This event toxicized the water, lagoons, and corals of that area and physically destroyed the coral reefs. Finally, physical destruction, another threat to coral reefs. Fishermen with large boats can easily crash into corals that aren’t visible near the coast. Construction can also hamper the structure of the corals. This totally obliterates the unique marine life that are the corals.

1. 4. What are people doing to protect coral reefs?

Australia controls the largest coral reef in the world: The Great Barrier Reef. The Australian Government is using their Emissions Reduction Fund to lessen the use of greenhouse gas emissions. They have a goal of lowering the greenhouse gas emissions 26% to 28% in 2030 than they were in 2005. In order to get anywhere close to 26% lower than 2005, the community needs to understand that their everyday lives are a threat to coral reefs in their area. The community must work together to salvage the large reefs. The government has tried to change climate policies, but it has become a severe challenge. Because climate change is such a polarising subject, it is very hard to get a bipartisan agreement on most of the proposals. In 2012, there was a carbon pricing method, but was later repealed in 2014. One change that was sustainable was when the Melbourne street lights were changed to more energy efficient bulbs. There have also been some forest and vegetation regrowth projects as well as using gas waste to create energy. The government is looking into more efficient ways of controlling emissions from vehicles relating to how the vehicles are being made.

The Bahamas Coral Innovation Hub is also taking the responsibility to preserve the corals by creating corals in their lab. During a special reproduction time of the year for coral reefs, they collect and grow corals in their lab. Once the corals meet the standards of growth, they create structures where other corals are and let the corals they grew in their lab live with their companions. This makes sure that the corals are multiplying and making up for those that are deceased.

1. 5. How will coral reefs and humans be affected by the different types of precautions being taken to protect the reefs?

Every decade coral reefs are slowly decreasing in number and by taking the certain precautions that are listed above and any other conservation measures, they can flourish again and maybe even return to their original state. Coral reefs can start multiplying and jobs, local businesses, and hotels can sustain their business because of the tourists. If there are enough coral reefs, there could also be huge changes in the medical field concerning the availability of medicines and new creations of improved medicines for all kinds of diseases. Lastly, coastlines can be protected with reliability because of the coral’s strength against the thundering waves that could do more damage without the corals.