Tropical Reefs In Jamaica And The Dominican Republic

Consisting of less than 1% of the world oceans, the coral reefs are ancient animals comprising of thin calcium carbonate deposits within the photic layer. Aside from its biologically diverse ecosystems, coral reefs are major source of food for millions and provides habitats and nursery areas for many marine organisms. Coral reefs also act as a physical buffer to protect the coastlines from tropical storms and erosion. In addition, many local communities rely on coral reefs to generate an income through activities such as fishing and diving. However, 75% of the coral reefs are under threat from induced impacts of humans and climate change (Burke, et al., 2011). This essay looks at the human impacts constantly being inflicted on coral reefs.

For this assignment, we were asked to choose of our past presentation topics and write and essay to elaborate more on whichever topic we pick. The topic I decided to elaborate more on is the Great Coral Reef of Florida. There are many important aspects to look at other than facts about the Great Coral Reef, but also the effects it is facing as well as how it plays a role in the economy, as in terms of bringing in money for the communities. Each topic that I am going to talk about mainly comes from information found by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Coral reefs are greatly hurt by tourism. When tourism first began, people had little regard for the delicate balance in the reefs. They would often break off parts of the coral to keep as souvenirs, damaging the area and hurting both the corals and the fish or other animals that relied on it. While humans today are more aware of the damage they cause, regular visitations can still create great damage by snorkelers or divers accidentally hitting and damaging the reefs.

The Florida Reef provides many benefits to our world. The coral living in it are part of the phylum Cnidaria which a group of invertebrates. Though it may provide many benefits to us, we provide many dangers to it. Our debris and overfishing can damage the Florida reef along with many other coral reefs. Not only that, due to over excessive tourists and their recklessness, we are endangering the Florida Reef even more. So how can human action improve the ocean ecosystem that is the home to the many species of the Florida reef? One is by polluting less. We can also fish more carefully and help reduce runoff. We can help the Florida Reef and it can continue to benefit us.

When you think of the Gulf of Mexico the first thing you don’t think of is coral reefs. You don’t even think of it as place to go surfing. If you ask a surfer what a reef is, they would probably say something that gets in my way while surfing. Reefs being either large or small, have grown for over thousands of years. The build-up of limestone or calcite have given way to magnificent structures that many marine animals call home (Science). Reefs are communities in the ocean where more than hundreds of different ocean species live (Moran). These reefs in the ocean become a community that live alongside each other which allows them to grow. Whether the reef is a place to live, find shelter or a place eat, the reefs of the Gulf of Mexico

Furthermore, extraction of building materials such as sand affects coral reefs, mangroves, and hinterland forests, leading to erosion and destruction of habitats. Overbuilding and extensive paving of shorelines can result in destruction of habitats and disruption of land-sea connections such as sea-turtle nesting spots. Coral reefs are especially fragile marine ecosystems and are suffering worldwide from reef-based tourism developments. Evidence suggests a variety of impacts to coastline ecosystems result from shoreline development, increased sediments in the water, trampling by tourists and divers, ship groundings, pollution from sewage, overfishing, and fishing with poisons and explosives that destroy coral

In the United States, Florida is the only state that has coral reefs that form near the coast. It runs along the east coast from Stuart, located in Martin County, to the Dry Tortugas which are located in the Gulf of Mexico. Along the chain of the Florida Keys is where most of the living coral reefs are also located in the Everglades. “ Coral reef development occurs only in areas with specific environmental characteristics: a solid structure for attachment, relatively warm water temperatures, clear waters low in phosphate and moderate wave action to disperse wastes and bring oxygen and brings oxygen and plankton to the reef.” (www.dep.state.fl.us)

Human activity largely impacts the Great Barrier Reef, from tourists to wider world issues such as climate change humans are widely responsible for damaging many ecosystems. Tourism has both negative and positive effects on the Great Barrier Reef. The main positive is the revenue that the tourism creates for local communities, this money can also go towards the upkeep of the area surrounding the Great Barrier Reef, and also by helping spread the message of how delicate the Great Barrier Reef’s ecosystem is. However tourism also has many negative impacts on the Great Barrier Reef. With more people in one area, the demand for natural resources increases. This can result in the overuse of natural resources as well as producing more waste and pollution. Some tourists may also not obey the rules at the Great Barrier Reef, this can cause damage to different organisms in the Great Barrier Reef.

Coral reef ecosystems around the globe are threatened by human interferences and climate change. This has led to many scientists conducting studies on global coral reef ecosystems to gain a better understanding of the cause and effects of coral reef damage. In both Hodgson’s (1999) and Carpenter et al.’s (2008) studies, they are aware of the continuous degradation of global coral reef ecosystems. Hodgson's study involved conducting a survey on global coral reef ecosystems to see whether human actions were affecting the health of supposed pristine Coral reefs. Carpenter et al. incorporated Hodgson’s study into a compiled study about the possible extinction of reef building corals due to climate change and anthropogenic effects. Carpenter’s

Marhaver opened her talk by speaking about the jobs that coral reefs do for other species: providing protection, and nutrition. They are farmers, chemists developing medical technology, and even founders of tourism activities like snorkeling. Nevertheless, we are rapidly destroying the reefs, by taking fish from the oceans, crushing them with our boats, and adding unnecessary means such as fertilizers and pollution. Marhaver then continues to describe an experience she had while getting her PhD in Curaçao. When after a tropical storm passed, in town, on the more populated side of the island where many corals were already broken, damaged insued. While on the other side of the island where the corals were thriving and healthy there was no change. Marhaver remarks that one coral, “ this storm took off half of its tissue, it became infested with algae”. This caused

Coral reefs are generally called the rainforests of the sea, both due to the extensive amount of species they shelter, and to the significant productivity they generate (ICRI 2012). In addition to contributing to a valued habitat, coral reefs provide spawning, nursery, refuge and feeding areas, and provide nearly $30 billion (US) in net benefits in goods and services to world economies, including, tourism, fisheries, and coastal protection (ICRI 2012). Coral reefs are deteriorating all over the world due to untreated sewage and chemical agriculture run-off and unregulated coastal construction, both of which increases sedimentation, but they are also affected by over fishing and destructive fishing practices, scuba diving, and increased tourism (Spalding et al. 2001).

Evidence has shown that the repercussions that the loss of coral has on the environment is irreversible with the possibility of entire ecosystems vanishing. Strategies have been introduced to reduce the global ocean temperatures, which is the main cause of coral bleaching, such as the carbon tax in Costa Rica. Many strategies such as this are slow acting however, therefore, they should be implemented in concurrence with other, more direct, solutions such as marine parks. More needs to be done both long term and short term to stabilise the current climate as there are serious environmental and economic losses that could

Around 100 countries benefit from tourism associated with coral-reefs, and 23 of these, reef-related tourism accounts for 15% of GDP (Burke, 2011). The Great-Barrier Reef Marine attracts 1.9 million visits each year, generating AUD $5.4 billion in tourist revenues and 60,000 jobs (Deloitte-Access-Economics, 2013). However, the GB Reef has experienced a loss of 50.7% of coral cover since 1985, and a 21% decrease in the calcification rate (De’ath, 2012). Such loss of coral is likely to make reef-orientated destinations less attractive to tourism, leading to reductions in profits for businesses, and employment for people in the sector (Hoegh-Guldberg,

Tourism plays a major role on the infrastructure of the Caribbean countries. Without tourism, the Caribbean’s would perhaps be unknown territories among the ocean. The three major impacts of tourism in the Caribbean are social, cultural and environmental. Tourism impacts the Caribbean socially by proving jobs and services for the people and and generating a revenue

The deterioration of coral reefs is mainly linked to human activities – 88% of coral reefs are threatened through various reasons as