Reef Drinking

Posted in January 8, 2009 ¬ 3:54 amh.adminComments Off

Reef Drinking

They are not as great as they used to be!

The real "Great Barrier Reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast in northern Queensland in Australia. It is so large and massive that it can be seen from outer space. It is the world's largest single structure made by living organisms. This structure is composed of reefs and built by billions of tiny organisms, called coral polyps. And he is dying! Global warming?

There is concern that increased Carbon emissions could kill coral reefs in the ocean by 2050. Like, which is worrying, or even thinking about 2050, right? We are more concerned about life through the estimated 2012 disaster.

A recent study conducted by 17 marine scientists in seven countries, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is the most comprehensive review to date of the catastrophic threat global warming poses to coral, and by extension many ocean species. Burning coal, oil and gas adds carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the same gas used to give soft drinks fizz. Like carbon dioxide is absorbed into the drink, the ocean absorbs it from the air.

When carbon dioxide enters the ocean, it makes water more acidic.

Which interferes with the ability of coral to calcify their skeletons as they longer grow and they begin to die. Coral reefs are important because they act as hatcheries and nurseries for fish in the ocean. They protect also the coast from storms and provide fish, recreation and tourism dollars. It is estimated that fishing in coral reefs in Asia feed one billion people.

The total economic value of coral is estimated at 30 billion dollars. Are we killing the planet earth?

The crucial component of marine biodiversity is seriously threatened by global warming. "We will create the conditions on Earth unlike anything most species alive today have experienced in their evolutionary history. That's no small thing. Corals suffer the effects of our actions and it's now or never if we want to preserve these marine creatures and the livelihoods that depend on them, "he said Bob Steneck of the University of Maine.

Scientists provide three possible scenarios of what could happen to coral reefs in the world, all based on forecasts of less atmospheric carbon dioxide given by the Intergovernmental Panel on UN on Climate Change.

(1) In the best scenario, carbon dioxide emissions of carbon are stabilized at their current level of 380 ppm. Coral reefs survive mostly intact.

(2) In the middle scenario range, levels of carbon dioxide rise to 450-500 ppm and the temperature rises by 3.6 degrees. Heat-tolerant forms take over coral reefs and are considerably less diverse, with a decline in fish and other marine animals.

(3) In the worst scenario, levels of carbon dioxide rise above 500 ppm and temperature increases over 5.4 degrees. At this stage, the reefs crumble and half the marine life disappears. Red, brown and green algae take over, plankton growth and the water quality erodes. Today's levels are rising rapidly because of increasingly large quantities of fossil fuels are burned.

If you believe in global warming or not, it is encumbent on all of us to make the study what happens in our environment, our planet that sustains us. It's the least we can all do. Let's get educated and put all the posturing policies and pointing the finger only divides again and you know what happens to a house, a divided people.

They fall!

About the Author:

ernie@lrchouston.com

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Great Coral Reefs

Reef Drinking