Typed by yours truely 
"Destruction of the worlds coral reefs has been increased over the years. Reef depletion is caused by many things, a lot of them being human factors such as farming and emission of greenhouse gasses causing the acceleration of global warming. Farming though you may not know it destroys the reefs and causes damage to aquatic life in general because of fertilizer runoff. The fertilizer promotes growth of algae that compete with corals for much needed sunlight to undergo photosynthesis, starving the corals to death. Why? Many algae feed off phosphorus, a common chemical in many fertilizers. This is not just a problem for reefs, but a problem for all aquatic ecosystems.
Global Warming is also a huge factor in the death of reefs around the world. Corals can only live in a certain range of salinity and temperature, if this is varied even a small amount, corals will die. Its no question that humanity has accelerated global warming by pumping greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, trapping heat inside, raising the temperature of the oceans. Even if it is raised by one degree coral will be damaged. Higher temperature also promotes growth of harmful algae (discussed above) that again, competes with the coral for sunlight. (Phosphorus from runoff doesnt help either). This causes the corals to bleach.
Bleaching of corals occurs when the algae out competes the coral, starving it of sunlight, killing off the Zooxanthellae (algae inside corals that gives it its color and performs photosynthesis) when the Zooxanthellae die off, the coral looses all its color and polyps, leaving behind a bleach white limestone skeleton. Fish naturally eat these undesired algae, but because of overfishing they too are slowly being depleted.
Another way humanity is slowly killing reefs is by destroying them for harvesting proposes either for food, or for the fish trade.
Fish and rock are harvested to often in harmful ways to be sold to pet stores for reef aquarium hobbyists (guilty). Harvesters use explosives and cyanide to stun the fish so they can be captured easier many dont survive, the ones that arent caught just had their home blown up and poisoned. They also use crowbars to break chunks of rock apart to reach hiding fish and harvest corals. Though not all are harvested this way, and it is the hobbyists responsibility to know where their fish came from, or even buy the fish and corals from aqua culturing facilities to give the reef a break.(guilty as well). It is also their responsibility to learn about their corals and if possible, breed them giving new opportunities to coral farmers. Reducing demand.
But why does it matter that reefs are being destroyed? Reefs are called the rainforest of the sea, They cover only about 1% of the ocean floor, Home to about 4000 fish species, Estimates of total diversity of reefs range up to 2 million species. Coral reefs contain chemicals that may contain important biochemical compounds. Up to one half of cancer drug research is marine based.
Coral reefs also supply us with fish which we eat; one square kilometer of healthy coral reef can produce up to 37 metric tons of fish, they contribute about one-quarter of the total fish catch, feeding as many as one billion people in Asia alone. They also act as natural barriers protecting coastlines from waves and storms. Also use up carbon dioxide, cleaning the air we breath.
The direct and indirect benefits of reefs have an estimated value of $375 billion each year . Lets keep it that way."
What do you think? to late to add to it as the report is tomorrow, but critisism is welcome!
By: Alex Vollmer
"Destruction of the worlds coral reefs has been increased over the years. Reef depletion is caused by many things, a lot of them being human factors such as farming and emission of greenhouse gasses causing the acceleration of global warming. Farming though you may not know it destroys the reefs and causes damage to aquatic life in general because of fertilizer runoff. The fertilizer promotes growth of algae that compete with corals for much needed sunlight to undergo photosynthesis, starving the corals to death. Why? Many algae feed off phosphorus, a common chemical in many fertilizers. This is not just a problem for reefs, but a problem for all aquatic ecosystems.
Global Warming is also a huge factor in the death of reefs around the world. Corals can only live in a certain range of salinity and temperature, if this is varied even a small amount, corals will die. Its no question that humanity has accelerated global warming by pumping greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, trapping heat inside, raising the temperature of the oceans. Even if it is raised by one degree coral will be damaged. Higher temperature also promotes growth of harmful algae (discussed above) that again, competes with the coral for sunlight. (Phosphorus from runoff doesnt help either). This causes the corals to bleach.
Bleaching of corals occurs when the algae out competes the coral, starving it of sunlight, killing off the Zooxanthellae (algae inside corals that gives it its color and performs photosynthesis) when the Zooxanthellae die off, the coral looses all its color and polyps, leaving behind a bleach white limestone skeleton. Fish naturally eat these undesired algae, but because of overfishing they too are slowly being depleted.
Another way humanity is slowly killing reefs is by destroying them for harvesting proposes either for food, or for the fish trade.
Fish and rock are harvested to often in harmful ways to be sold to pet stores for reef aquarium hobbyists (guilty). Harvesters use explosives and cyanide to stun the fish so they can be captured easier many dont survive, the ones that arent caught just had their home blown up and poisoned. They also use crowbars to break chunks of rock apart to reach hiding fish and harvest corals. Though not all are harvested this way, and it is the hobbyists responsibility to know where their fish came from, or even buy the fish and corals from aqua culturing facilities to give the reef a break.(guilty as well). It is also their responsibility to learn about their corals and if possible, breed them giving new opportunities to coral farmers. Reducing demand.
But why does it matter that reefs are being destroyed? Reefs are called the rainforest of the sea, They cover only about 1% of the ocean floor, Home to about 4000 fish species, Estimates of total diversity of reefs range up to 2 million species. Coral reefs contain chemicals that may contain important biochemical compounds. Up to one half of cancer drug research is marine based.
Coral reefs also supply us with fish which we eat; one square kilometer of healthy coral reef can produce up to 37 metric tons of fish, they contribute about one-quarter of the total fish catch, feeding as many as one billion people in Asia alone. They also act as natural barriers protecting coastlines from waves and storms. Also use up carbon dioxide, cleaning the air we breath.
The direct and indirect benefits of reefs have an estimated value of $375 billion each year . Lets keep it that way."
What do you think? to late to add to it as the report is tomorrow, but critisism is welcome!
