Estimated 1 billion people benefit from the services of coral reefs in the forms of providing food, coastal protection, income from tourism and fisheries
Over half of coral reefs already lost
Predictions that 90% of global reefs will experience servere bleaching annually by 2055
Most corals have a narrow temperature tolerance, when exceed the polpys expel their symbiotic algae, losing their colour as well as their main food source
Corals can survive a bleaching event, but will be more vulnerable to disease, and will eventually die if the marine heatwave persists
Effects cannot necessarily be defined into the two categories, as the reefs dying’s effects on the environment, in turn affect humans and are far less mutually exclusive than I originally expected, it’s more of a knock-on effect from one to the other
ENVIRONMENT ——–>
HUMANS
SEA LEVEL RISE – corals can’t keep up with rising sea levels, in deeper and deeper water, meaning less sunlight, less photosynthesis, able to grow even less, less protection for shorelines, erode, corals affected by polluted runoff and sedimentation
Could displace 200 million people from coastal communities
STRONGER STORMS – sea surface temperatures rise, stronger hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons, coral damageHeavy rainfall, erode coastal lands, more polluted runoff into ocean
200 million people rely on protection from coral reefs during storm surges and waves
OCEAN ACIDIFICATION – 48% of fossil fuel emissions absorbed by ocean, absorbs CO2, becomes more acidic, affects ability for reef-building coral to grow their limestone skeletons (alkaline base dissolves in the acidity), coral foundations can’t form, weaker skeleton, more vulnerable to disease and destruction from stormsCoral polyps exposure to CO2 increases risk of bleaching by up to 50%Dissolve shelled organisms shells
Further amplifies impacts above due to increase coral damage and dyingAffects seafood supply
sneesbee 