MATTER Magazine: Fading Coral

Although we may not encounter them in our day-to-day lives, coral reefs are an incredibly important aspect of ocean environments, as well as society as a whole. According to the NOAA, coral reefs have a $3.4 billion value every year, including fisheries, tourism and the coastal communities it protects. The largest barrier reef in the United States, the Florida Reef Tract, is said to protect communities as far inland as Louisiana from storm surge and flooding. Not to mention that coral reefs are home to 25 percent of all marine organisms. But the health of coral reefs is rapidly declining. Warmer water, ocean acidification, pollution and disease are all contributing factors to coral bleaching. In fact, the world’s largest reef, the Great Barrier Reef has suffered greatly from bleaching, with only about half of it still alive today, according to National Geographic. It is projected that by 2050, over 90 percent of all coral will be dead. The coral is an incredibly advanced, yet vulnerable animal. It has a symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae algae that provides the coral with about 90 percent of its total food supply. The other 10 percent is retrieved by the animal itself, grabbing microscopic organisms with its tiny tentacles as they pass by. Corals possess the ability to “expel” the zooxanthellae when they are overproducing oxygen during photosynthesis. This reaction can be provoked due to stresses in the environment including rising temperatures and pollution, making humans the number one perpetrators.Over the past 30 years, mass coral bleachings have been recorded more and more frequently. According to the NOAA Coral Reef Watch, the second global coral bleaching in our history occurred in 2010 in reefs across the globe. Then, in 2014, the beginning of the third global bleaching brought with it record heat that affected coral reefs from the Northwestern Hawaiin Islands to the Marshall Islands. This worldwide event lasted for three years, ending in May of 2017. It is the longest and most detrimental mass coral bleaching in history, greatly affecting areas that were once untouched by coral bleaching, such as the northern Great Barrier Reef. Today, the condition of the world’s largest barrier reef is dwindling. “The current rate of global warming will not allow the maintenance of a healthy reef for future generations … the window of opportunity to improve the reef’s long-term future is now,” said the latest report from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. In emergencies such as this, immediate preventative action must be taken in order to prevent this vital ecosystem from depleting any further. Initiatives such as building underwater fans to cool down the surrounding water and creating a film on the surface of the water to prevent light penetration are aimed to help rectify the situation. However, much more must be done to make meaningful progress. Carbon emissions must go down and with that the extraction of fossil fuels must be eliminated. Lifestyles must change.Regardless of who you are, where you live or what you do, coral has a profound effect on your life. To imagine a world without coral would be to imagine a world without coastal communities, without a stable economy and without a diverse ocean. Moreover, preserving the ocean’s coral reefs is a responsibility that falls on every individual; our livelihood depends on it.