OCEANS - CORAL REEFS 

Recent news: 

June 20 2011: World’s oceans in ‘shocking  decline’. The oceans are in a worse state than previously suspected, according to an expert panel of scientists. They conclude that issues such as over-fishing, pollution and climate change are acting together in ways that have not previously been recognized. In a new report, they warn that ocean life is "at high risk of entering a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history". The impacts, they say, are already affecting humanity. link
 

          Below:

• The Oceans - the effect of CO2 on the oceans
• Coral reefs - their purpose for the ecosystem, how they're vanishing,  how sunscreen adds to their  demise.
• Plastic in the oceans

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Carbon emissions effect on the oceans  

June 2010:The world's oceans are virtually choking on rising greenhouse gases.  According to a 10-year study by Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, director of the the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland, the world's oceans are virtually choking on rising greenhouse gases, destroying marine ecosystems and breaking down the food chain. Hoegh-Guldberg says the oceans are the Earth's heart and lungs, producing half the world's oxygen and absorbing 30% of man-made CO2. He concludes, "We are well on the way to the next great extinction event."     link  

Warming oceans more of a threat than air temperature. Ice sheets simmering in warmer ocean waters could melt much quicker than realized. New research is suggesting that as oceans heat up they could erode away the ice sheets much faster than warmer air alone, and this interaction needs to be accounted for in climate change models. "Ocean warming is very important compared to atmospheric warming, because water has a much larger heat capacity than air," study researcher Jianjun Yin, of the University of Arizona, said in a statement. "If you put an ice cube in a warm room, it will melt in several hours. But if you put an ice cube in a cup of warm water, it will disappear in just minutes." link
  

February 2010: Oceans' acidity rate is soaring, claims study. The rate at which the oceans are becoming more acidic is greater today than at any time in tens of millions of years, according to a new study. Rapidly rising concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere mean that the rate of ocean acidification is the fastest since the age of the dinosaurs, which became extinct 65m years ago, scientists believe. The oceans are likely to become so acidic in coming centuries that they will become uninhabitable for vast swathes of life, especially the little-studied organisms on the deep-sea floor which are a vital link in the marine food chain. link (Picture: coral bleaching in Kuwaiti waters.) 

Oceans' ability to sequester carbon diminishing. The globe's oceans are massive carbon sinks: more than a quarter of carbon emissions from humans have been sequestered by the oceans. According to a new study - the first of its kind - an annual accounting of the oceans' intake of carbon over the past 250 years suggests troubling news. According to the study, published in Nature, the oceans' ability to sequester carbon is struggling to keep-up with mankind's ever-growing emissions. link  Carbon dioxide is slowly making the oceans less alkaline and more acidic, altering the chemical balance on which much of oceanic life depends. Carbon dioxide reacts with seawater to form carbonic acid, a process that consumes carbonate ions. Those ions are necessary for the chemical reaction used to form calcium carbonate, the structural element in corals and the shells of many marine animals.

October 2009: By 2100 entire Arctic Ocean will be corrosively acidic. Carbon-dioxide emissions are turning the waters of the Arctic Ocean into acid at an unprecedented rate, scientists have discovered. Research carried out in the archipelago of Svalbard has shown in many regions around the north pole seawater is likely to reach corrosive levels within 10 years. The water will then start to dissolve the shells of mussels and other shellfish and cause major disruption to the food chain. Research suggests that 10% of the Arctic Ocean will be corrosively acidic by 2018; 50% by 2050. By the end of the century, the entire Arctic Ocean will be corrosively acidic. link

As the oceans acidify, shells will simply dissolve. The growth of coral reefs will slow, and their structural integrity would be weakened, making them more vulnerable to storms and erosion. That would be a catastrophic loss. The list of potential long-term effects to oceanic life is only beginning to be explored. Scientists have understood ocean acidification for a long time. But what they are learning now is how quickly it is increasing, in step with increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide. New studies show that if carbon dioxide emissions continue at current rates, shells and corals could begin to dissolve especially in the southern oceans - within 30 years. link 

Our Connection with the Sea.   A combination of factors have caused an imbalance humans have with our interconnectedness with the seas. From overfishing, where some species have almost disappeared, to the acidity level through CO2 increases which affect the currents and coral reefs, to the vast quantities of pollution dumped into the oceans (sewage, plastic, fertilizer run-off), mankind is now threatening that interdependence. I recommend an article from the Dec. 30 2008 copy of "The Economist" to read up on this. link
                

CORAL REEFS:

Why Coral reefs are important. Beyond their intrinsic value and their role as a breeding ground for many of the ocean's fish and other species, coral reefs provide human societies with resources and services worth many billions of dollars each year. Millions of people and thousands of communities all over the world depend on coral reefs for food, protection, and jobs. These numbers are especially staggering considering that coral reefs cover less than one percent of the Earth’s surface.

The coral reef structure also buffers shorelines against waves, storms, and floods, helping to prevent loss of life, property damage, and erosion. Several million people live in U.S. coastal areas adjacent to or near coral reefs, and the well-being of their communities and economies is directly dependent on the health of nearby coral reefs. Finally, coral reefs are sometimes called the “medicine cabinets” of the 21st century. Coral reef plants and animals are important sources of new medicines being developed to treat cancer, arthritis, human bacterial infections, heart disease, viruses, and other diseases. link

February 2011: According to the "Reefs at Risk Revisited” at east 75% of the world's coral reefs are under such intense pressures, both local and global, that their very survival is threatened. If these pressures continue unchecked, more than 90% of reefs will be threatened by 2030 and nearly all reefs will be at risk by 2050. link

October 2009: 'Freezer plan' bid to save coral.  The prospects of saving the world's coral reefs now appear so bleak that plans are being made to freeze samples to preserve them for the future. A meeting in Denmark took evidence from researchers that most coral reefs will not survive even if tough regulations on greenhouse gases are put in place. Scientists proposed storing samples of coral species in liquid nitrogen. That will allow them to be reintroduced to the seas in the future if global temperatures can be stabilised. Legislators from 16 major economies have been meeting in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, to try to agree the way forward on climate change. link

October  2010: Scientists say Asia's corals dying en masse.  Coral reefs in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean are dying from the worst bleaching effect in more than a decade triggered by warmer waters. "It is certainly the worst coral die-off we have seen since 1988. It may prove to be the worst such event known to science," said researcher Andrew Baird from James Cook University.  link 

September 2009: A report from the Australian government agency that looks after the nation's Great Barrier Reef reported that "the overall outlook for the reef is poor and catastrophic damage to the ecosystem may not be averted". The Great Barrier Reef is in trouble, and it is not the only one. The tropical coral reef looks like it will enter the history books as the first major ecosystem wiped out by our love of cheap energy.  Within just a few decades, experts are warning, the tropical reefs strung around the middle of our planet like a jewelled corset will reduce to rubble. Giant piles of slime-covered rubbish will litter the sea bed and spell in large distressing letters for the rest of foreseeable time: 'Humans Were Here'. 

The future is horrific," says Charlie Veron, an Australian marine biologist who is widely regarded as the world's foremost expert on coral reefs. "There is no hope of reefs surviving to even mid-century in any form that we now recognise. If, and when, they go, they will take with them about one-third of the world's marine biodiversity. Then there is a domino effect, as reefs fail so will other ecosystems. This is the path of a mass extinction event, when most life, especially tropical marine life, goes extinct."  link

Coral reefs are disappearing fast. May 2009 The world's most important coral region is in danger of being wiped out by the end of this century unless fast action is taken, says a new report. The international conservation group WWF (World Wildlife Fund) warns that 40% of reefs in the Coral Triangle have already been lost. The area is shared between Indonesia and five other South East Asian nations and is thought to contain 75% of the world's coral species. It is likened to the Amazon rainforest in terms of its biodiversity. The Coral Triangle covers 1% of the earth's surface but contains a third of all the world's coral, and three-quarters of its coral reef species. "If it goes, an entire eco-system goes with it - and that", says Marine Science Professor Hoegh-Gudberg (Univ. of Queensland - Aus.), "has serious consequences for its ability to tackle climate change. Up until now we haven't realized how quickly this system is changing. In the last 40 years in the Coral Triangle, we've lost 40% of coral reefs and mangroves - and that's probably an underestimate. We've fundamentally changed the way the planet works in terms of currents and this is only with a 0.7 degree change in terms of temperature.What's going to happen when we exceed two or four or six?"  link  

Sunscreen threat to coral reefs.  
As much as 6,000 tons of sunscreen ends up in the coral reefs where people swim and snorkel every year, according to estimates by environmental groups and the World Trade Organization. "Almost 80 percent of our water in the U.S. shows trace amounts of chemicals from personal care products, which could be sunscreens, lotions, colognes or medications," said Sejal Choksi, the program director for Baykeeper, an environmental watchdog group. Some 60 percent of the world's reef systems are now being threatened by a combination of global warming, industrial pollution and excess UV radiation, which is why the sunscreen threat is being taken seriously by scientists.  link
[Which sunscreens are ocean-friendly?]  
Cousteau Foundation names it's ideal sunscreen to protect coral reefs from damage.

The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) is the only international organization working exclusively to save coral reefs. link

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Plastic in the Oceans.    

The world's rubbish dump: a tip that stretches from Hawaii to Japan.
A "plastic soup" of waste floating in the Pacific Ocean is growing at an alarming rate and now covers an area twice the size of the continental United States, scientists have said. The vast expanse of debris, in effect the world's largest rubbish dump, is held in place by swirling underwater currents. This drifting "soup" stretches from about 500 nautical miles off the Californian coast, across the northern Pacific, past Hawaii and almost as far as Japan.
Charles Moore, an American oceanographer who discovered the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" or "trash vortex", believes that about 100 million tons of flotsam are circulating in the region. Marcus Eriksen, a research director of the US-based Algalita Marine Research Foundation, which Mr Moore founded, said: "The original idea that people had was that it was an island of plastic garbage that you could almost walk on. It is not quite like that. It is almost like a plastic soup. It is endless for an area that is maybe twice the size as continental United States." Because the sea of rubbish is translucent and lies just below the water's surface, it is not detectable in satellite photographs. "You only see it from the bows of ships," he said.

According to the UN Environment Programme, plastic debris causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds every year, as well as more than 100,000 marine mammals. Syringes, cigarette lighters and toothbrushes have been found inside the stomachs of dead seabirds, which mistake them for food. Plastic is believed to constitute 90% of all rubbish floating in the oceans. The UN Environment Programme estimated in 2006 that every square mile of ocean contains 46,000 pieces of floating plastic. The "soup" is actually two linked areas, either side of the islands of Hawaii, known as the Western and Eastern Pacific Garbage Patches. About one-fifth of the junk is thrown off ships or oil platforms. The rest comes from land. link

"Great Pacific Garbage Patch" - Project Kaisei is monitoring the North Pacific Gyre.
August  2009: Possible solution in sight. The second of two research ships bound for a huge "island" of plastic debris in the Pacific Ocean leaves San Francisco today. Ocean currents have pushed the refuse together in an area estimated to be larger than the State of Texas. The expedition, named Project Kaisei, will study the impact of the waste on marine life. Ultimately the organisers hope to clear the plastic and recycle it for use as fuel and new products.  link  August 2009: Scientists have confirmed that there are millions of tonnes of plastic floating in an area of ocean known as the North Pacific Gyre. more
This Newsweek article looks at possible solutions.    

Oceanographers refer to  an enormous heap of debris floating in the Pacific the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch". It consists of 80% plastics and weighs some 3.5 million tons - and is twice the size of Texas.  Marcus Eriksen, director of research and education at the Algalita Marine Research Foundation in Long Beach, said his group has been monitoring the Garbage Patch for 10 years. "With the winds blowing in and the currents in the gyre going circular, it's the perfect environment for trapping," Eriksen said. "There's nothing we can do about it now, except do no more harm." The report found that 80 percent of the oceans' litter originated on land.  more  In the picture above you see bottle caps and other plastic objects  inside the decomposed carcass of a Laysan albatross on Kure Atoll, which lies in a remote and virtually uninhabited region of the North Pacific. The bird probably mistook the plastics for food and ingested them while foraging for prey.