Posted on 12/14/2007 8:41:13 AM PST by cogitator
The journal Science has published a paper that is the most comprehensive review to date of the effects rising ocean temperatures are having on the world's coral reefs. The Carbon Crisis: Coral Reefs under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean Acidification, co-authored by seventeen marine scientists from seven different countries, reveals that most coral reefs will not survive the drastic increases in global temperatures and atmospheric CO2 unless governments act immediately to combat current trends.
The paper, the cover story for this week's issue of Science, paints a bleak picture of a future without all but the most resilient coral species if atmospheric CO2 levels continue on their current trajectory. Marine biodiversity, tourism and fishing industries and the food security of millions are at risk, the paper warns. Coral reef fisheries in Asia currently provide protein for one billion people and the total net economic value of services provided by corals is estimated to be $30 billion.
Dr. Bob Steneck, of the University of Maine and co-author of the paper, said the time was right for international leaders to commit to meaningful action to save the world's coral reefs: "The science speaks for itself. We have created conditions on Earth unlike anything most species alive today have experienced in their evolutionary history. Corals are feeling the effects of our actions and it is now or never if we want to safeguard these marine creatures and the livelihoods that depend on them."
Scientists have long thought that the effects of climate change and the resulting acidification of the oceans spells trouble for reefs. Coral skeletons are made of calcium, and reef development requires plenty of carbonate ions to build these skeletons, a process called calcification. When carbon dioxide is absorbed in the ocean, the pH level drops, along with the amount of carbonate ions, slowing the growth of coral reefs.
Atmospheric CO2 levels are currently at 380 parts per million (ppm) and the paper's authors, members of the Coral Reef Targeted Research and Capacity Building for Management Program (CRTR), calculate that once levels reach 560ppm, the calcification process could be reduced by up to 40 percent. Recent science also suggests that by 2100 the oceans will be so acidic that 70 percent of the habitat for deep-water corals, once considered relatively safe from the effects of climate change, will be uninhabitable.
Ocean acidification is just one example of the threats corals are facing. Bleaching, a process that is triggered when summer sea temperatures rise above normal for weeks at a time, causes corals to expel the algae that gives them their colour and nutrients. This phenomenon killed 16 percent of reef-building corals in 1997, according to the paper's authors. Destructive fishing methods, oil and gas exploration and pollution have also contributed to the global decline of coral reefs, with 20 percent already destroyed and another 50 percent threatened or verging on collapse in just the past few decades.
Consumer demand has also placed corals at risk. Popular products include coral jewelry, home decor items and live animals used in home aquaria. Corals grow so slowly it can take decades for them to recover, if at all. Catches of precious red corals, the most valuable of all coral species, provide a striking example of how demand for a fashion item can decimate a species. Red coral populations have plummeted 89 percent in the past two decades. Conscientious companies such as Tiffany and Co. removed real coral from their product lines over five years ago.
Fernanda Kellogg, president of The Tiffany and Co. Foundation, said, "Tiffany and Co. is committed to obtaining precious materials in ways that are socially and environmentally responsible. We decided to stop using real coral in our jewelry and feel that there are much better alternatives that celebrate the beauty of the ocean without destroying it."
Yet there is hope for corals and the life that depends on them. Scientists are calling for a reduction of carbon emissions to ensure corals' survival. It is also vitally important to reduce local pressures on corals such as overfishing, removal for consumer items, and pollution. If these local pressures are addresssed, coral populations will be stronger and will have a better chance of surviving climate change. Tiffany and Co. is forming new partnerships with fashion designers, scientists and conservation organizations to raise awareness of the urgent need for coral conservation.
Dawn M. Martin, president of SeaWeb, said, "Corals belong in the ocean, not in our homes or in our jewelry boxes. Consumers and the fashion industry can play an important role in the ocean's recovery by simply avoiding purchases of red and other corals. These jewels of the sea are simply too precious to wear."
In 2008, scientists, conservationists and governments will mobilize around the world to celebrate the International Year of the Reef (IYOR), a worldwide initiative to raise awareness of the importance of corals and coral reefs. The 11th International Coral Reef Symposium will be held July 7-11, 2008, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Over 2,500 attendees from academic, government and conservation organizations are expected to attend to discuss the latest coral science and its implications for the survival of these international treasures.
In a buffered system, the constituents of the system respond to changes in pH induced by addition of acid or base by altering their concentration to establish new equilibrium concentrations which result in only a small change in pH.
(Off the top of my head.)
Increased pH makes calcification more difficult for calcareous organisms.
Now, can you explain how a very weak acid will react in a buffered solution?
With my own personal coral reef, I must measure the quality of the water on a daily basis. For example, as the water evaporates, the salinity will increase. The pH of the saltwater is one thing that I never worry about.
In my living room, I have a two aquariums.
One is 90 gallons, and the other is 55 gallons. In the basement, I have another 300 gallons of saltwater that is constantly being circulated to the aquariums in my living room.
Maintaining a healthy fish population, while keeping my corals alive, has always been a challenge.
But have I ever worried about a change in pH, because of the CO2 from my breathing? You have got to be joking!
The pH of my saltwater aquariums is the one thing that does not change.
In this book Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years, S. Fred Singer notes that the corals have a technique to survive climate change. They 'bleach'. That is, they eject their current algae buddies, and then accept a different algae species more suited to the changed temperature. The bleached state is short lived.
Considering how the corals survived the warm of the dinosaur periods and the various Ice Ages, they must be tougher than they appear to these scientists.
My guess is that any given coral colony might not survive a change in temp or sea level, but their offspring will simply colonize other more suitable spots. Since the sea level has risen 400 feet since the ice age, none of the current coral sites can be over 10,000 years old anyway, since coral doesn't grow too far below the surface.
When hurricane Wilma sat over Cozumel for almost a week, everything was destroyed. My wife and I went diving there the following month.
All the the coral was covered with sand. Nothing was the same, and we feared that this coral reef had been destroyed.
Instead, everything was healthy, and if anything, this hurricane improved the conditions of life on the coral reef. The coral was nice and healthy, and we observed more "baby" fish than we had ever seen before.
Nature is absolutely amazing, if you simply stop and watch how it actually operates.
Cousteau took to complaining about the quality of the favorite SCUBA diving areas before he retired. Water murky, sea life dead and gone. Long before Global Warming.
I suggest immediate eradication of marine vertebrates and invertebrates.
The important change is to the pH of the surface ocean waters (down to about 200 meters or so); this is a lot less volume than that of the entire ocean.
You could peruse this:
Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Coral Reefs and Other Marine Calcifiers
If you're talking about natural changes, the time rate of change is a very important factor. Organisms can and do adapt, up to a point; it is more difficult for organisms to adapt to rapid change than slow change.
Rapid climate change is more difficult to adapt to than slow climate change. The current climate trends are quite rapid.
The amount of sand that was moved is beyond my ability to explain, but caves that I used to swim through were totally buried.
Other caves are now open for the first time in thousands of years, and the newly exposed fossils were a special interest for me.
After one dive of exploring this total destruction, where even the cruise ship piers were laying on the bottom, we were all astounded at how much surface stuff from the island we could find.
One idiot from Colorado got all upset because I threw my cigarette butt into the ocean! After giving the boat captain a cigarette, we seriously debated if this idiot should be evicted from the boat and forced to swim to shore.
Did this idiot pay attention to what this hurricane had done, and how the biology was responding? And this idiot was worried about a cigarette butt?
vaudine
What do you think is incorrect about what was stated?
Overview of CO2-induced changes in seawater chemistry (PDF)
Review the diagram on page 2 and see if you think it's right.
All these corals died off in the global warming of the 1930’s.
There aren’t any left.
A small shift in pH, which is induced by carbonic acid from CO2 added to the surface ocean waters, shifts the equilibrium in this buffered system toward bicarbonate and away from carbonate ion. That means the saturation state with respect to calcium carbonate goes down -- and that's why corals and other calcifying organisms are facing a serious problem as ocean acidification takes place.
The CO2 from your breathing, Hunble, won't change the pH of your aquarium. But if you increased the ambient CO2 concentration in your house by 50-60 ppm and waited a few days, you might notice a change.
An ion has one extra neutron in it's atom. So CO3^2 is rather rare and unusual.
Did you pay attention to the actual article? They were not talking about normal CO2, but a very rare and unusual ion.
I know. The main problem was increased algae growth due to higher nutrient levels in many coastal areas.
Be assured dear FReeper friend, that I will continue to research this article and report to you exactly what is wrong with it.
Actually, this is the type of crap that I love to study, and I want to thank you for showing it to me.
Yes, South Dakota.
Naw; not the pretty stuff. :(
Just the common, grey stuff.
We had to drill through about 700’ (as well as other strata)or so of it, to get down to the aquifer.
Some has fossil poyps; some has a few fossil shells/shell casts; but most is just undifferentiated bottom-ooze type limestone. All of it is a PIA, when trying to drive posts, dig, rototill, plow, or bulldoze. LOL
This whole area was a shallow sea more than once.
4-5 miles NE of us is Wind Cave N.P.
Just over 4 miles ESE, some of the limestone disolved, and the surface caved in, forming a sinkhole about 15-20,000 years ago. That filled with warm water from the hot springs, making a good winter watering hole, but it also trapped more than 100 mammoths over the centuries, both wooly & Columbian. They’ve also found a short nosed bear, camels, and several predators & scavengers, as well as other critters. http://www.mammothsite.com/
I have no idea what O3 is!
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