Vanishing Coral Reefs (PHOTOS)

In honor of the underwater meeting that the Maldives' Cabinet held on Saturday to raise awareness about the threat of climate change, HuffPost Green thought a slideshow of the world's endangered coral reefs would be appropriate. October 24th is the International Day Of Climate Action where worldwide people will be bringing attention to the pressing concerns of climate change, such as the danger it poses to ecosystems like coral reefs.

Check out these beautiful reefs and pick your favorite image.

Sabah, Malaysia

A red snapper swims near Sabah in Malaysia. Malaysian reefs are threatened by pollution as well as recreation - snorkelers and scuba divers often kick or step on the reefs.

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Comments

[realpolitic]

"Scientists are already seeing harm as the oceans acidify. Reefs are struggling in many parts of the world, shell growth rates are slowing, life phases – particularly reproductive maturity – are being thrown out of whack."

"Even the healthiest reefs in the most optimum conditions today face a daily struggle to grow faster than reef dwellers and the ocean can erode them, and the effects grow more dire as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rise."

"Somewhere between 450 ppm and 500 ppm atmospheric carbon dioxide, for instance, lies a tipping point where, scientists suspect, reefs become “rapidly eroding rubble banks.” Much beyond that, Oceana reported, “reefs as we know them would be extremely rare.” Current projections show that by the end of this century no adequate conditions for coral will remain in the world’s oceans."

http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/acid-test/the-oceans-acid-test

[SFTor]

It appears that the coral reefs around the Bikini Atoll are in great shape.

Which reason do you think is correct:

A) Absence of divers and fishermen allow the coral reefs to thrive.

B) Nuclear blasts are good for corals. We should nuke all coral reefs.

Anyone? Anyone?

[fumes]

A) because the acid eats the scuba divers..

the coral reefs are protected!

[Richard2]

Has anyone even considered the idea that coral reefs may be in trouble because of the physical intrusion of man into their environment? What in their evolutionary history has prepared them for human divers touching, scrapeing, and shaking them? What has prepared them for the sun-tan lotions in the water, the plastic bags, the human waste?

If you want to save the reefs, stay away from them!

[realpolitic]

Yes, they have. Have you so little information about the subject as that? But the acidity of the water keeps the corals from forming their protective shells. Clearly, even you can see a problem there and higher ocean temps leads to widespread bleaching, see any problem there?

[friedfish2718]

Corals existed more than 200 million years ago when co2 was more than 10 times higher than today. Corals existed then, coral will exist in the future.

Studies of coral in the South Pacific showed in centuries past pH was as low as 6.9 (and co2 levels were low) and the corals did fine.

looking at the North Sea, Richardson and Gibbons (2008):
"…no observed declines in the abundance of calcifiers with lowering pH have yet been reported…the role of pH in structuring zooplankton communities in the North Sea and further afield at present is tenuous."

Vogt et al (2008), experimenting with atmospheric concentrations up to three times current levels:
" …the ecosystem composition, bacterial and phytoplankton abundances and productivity, grazing rates and total grazer abundance and reproduction were not significantly affected by CO2 induced effects."

As a side (but related) issue, fresh water shellfish live quite well in water with pH as low as 5 (such low pH is due to organic acids).

[ChelseaC]

Sad..............

[monk2000]

This is a huge deal. 90% of aquatic life reside on coasts ... many of them fueled by coral reefs. If those start disapearing any faster we are all in some big trouble. Famine will encompass the globe and what appears as difficult times now will be catastrophic when billions are starving to death.

The most precious resource on this planet is water.. fresh and salt..... I don't understand how we aren't protecting them better???/

[fumes]

how on earth can they scuba dive in acid?

didn't they read sigourney's piece.. sheesh

[GuyRC]

haha

buy a salt water aquarium and a thousand dollars worth of fish. then tell us how much you could raise the acidity before the fish died. then stick you head in the tank

[guinganbresil]

From 9 down to 7.5 without killing the fish (I assume, since the researchers didn't mention dead fish)... see figure 1.

http://pondside.uchicago.edu/ecol-evol/faculty/Wootton/PDFs/Wootton_Pfister_Forester%20PNAS%202008.pdf