Can Coral Reefs Last For Another 40 Years?
Ever since we began to realise the environmental damage being done to the planet, this question has been around. How long can the world’s coral survive and what’s causing it to die in the forst place? We dont always know all the reasons for why things happen but we do know some of them, and where we do then these are causes that need to be addressed.
The Caribbean holds as much as 20% of the world’s coral and there is a huge amount of damage being done to it. In Honduras, where there is an agricultural economy that provides pineapple, banana and sugar cane, plantations are so wide spread, fertilizer is being used in heavy amounts. the nutrients that are created by releasing these fertilizers into the ocean will often kill off native sealife. Farms that are located in this area sometimes leak pesticides and fertilizers into waterways which make it to the ocean, this damages the reefs, sometimes beyond repair. But the main thing we don’t really realise is that fish are massively important to the coral reefs. the fish live on the coral and act as its living groomoing kit, they remove bacteria from the coral which keeps it healthy as well as eating seaweed thus ensuring that oxygen levels remain constant.
It appears that fish stocks have fallen by as much as 70-95% in recent years, a massive fall. Overfishing isn’t just harmful to the local fish stocks, it also decreases the coral’s chances of survival.
A problem which is obvious is global warming. This is the big one, fluctuations in the acidity of the sea, caused by global warming, have lead to a decrease in the amount of aragonite available. Aragonite is a carbonic mineral which is essential for the production of fresh coral. It has been projected that oceanic acidity will have become so unbearable to coral that it will no longer be able to survive in such conditions.
But there are things we can do to try to help. There are ventures to help the coral that we can take part in and have a good time while we do it. If you do go on luxury holidays or Caribbean holidays you could have the option to go and volunteer for a coral clean up operation, where you can help clean coral underwater or on the shore. What could be better? Diving with the fish while doing your bit for the environment.
Also, when fishing around coral, if possibel avoid dropping anchor, you will damage the coral and also harm anything living around it.
So if your thinking about going abroad or maybe somewhere tropical, perhaps some of you want to have weddings abroad, it might be a good idea to get there as soon as you can. And if you want help you could even take part with the professional divers who clean the coral for an afternoon, it might not be long before it’s all gone.
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