Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Park

Tourism has a large impact on the reef system at Lady Musgrave Island with the millions of people who have and will visit the island at one point in their life. These results did not give an accurate picture as there were many other parts of the reef that weren’t included in these results. Due to this, there could have been more coral impacts or more animals surrounding the reef in other areas that were not included in these results collected. Therefore, the reef ecosystem creates many positive effects for humans and animals alike. However, it can be ruined easily with a simple touch or by leaving waste behind that could damage the reef or hurt the animals living in that

Part 1: The film Chasing Coral was created to serve as a point of awareness to the crisis surrounding coral. Coral bleaching has only recently been an issue, especially since 2014. Coral death, bleaching, and boiling have swept through the tropical oceans, causing the destruction of a keystone habitat that supports 25% of marine life. This film aims to highlight these issues, show their severity, and how they impact these ecosystems. The documentary succeeded in exposing these issues to the world and showing how much destruction is being done in such little time.

The bleaching of coral reefs is when warm water forces algae to leave the reef. Once the algae disappear, the coral goes from a vibrant color to a pale white. As one marine biologist said, “You go from a vibrant, three-dimensional structure teeming with life, teeming with color, to a flat pavement...” This bleaching makes the coral more vulnerable to diseases and a greater risk of death. The biggest bleaching events to have occurred in

Coral reefs are threatened by global warming. They can only live in waters between 18 C and 30 C. Therefore, with the increase in temperature of the surrounding water, there has been an unprecedented increase in the number of coral bleaching events during the past 2 decades (which have had some of the warmest years in history). When ocean temperatures get too high, coral polyps lose the symbiotic algae inside them, causing them to turn white, or "bleach," and eventually die.

Coral bleaching isn’t as extreme as it sounds, it’s just a way for coral to adapt to changes in their environment but it’s still a bad thing to happen. Warmer temperatures and also ocean acidification are the culprits of coral bleaching, making the coral expel algae from their tissues and causing the coral to be white. For example, the 1998 El Nino/ mass coral bleaching event, the article Not just a pretty face (2) proposes that “although it was triggered by a natural event”, it demonstrated how the ocean can adapt under stress but it also “symbolizes the ultimate consequence of our thirst for fossil fuels”. It’s normal for climate change to cause such an effect on the reefs, humans are to blame for the more rapid climate change though. Believe

The most beautiful ecosystem, coral reefs, are dying. Fortunately, there are policies in place to protect our reefs like the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. However, these polices alone aren’t enough to protect and restore our reef ecosystems. I propose that to preserve the reefs, we increase our protection by growing the amount of National Marine Sanctuaries (NMS), encouraging and funding scientific research, improving partnerships, and enhancing the public education and involvement. This can be accomplished in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) through continuation and improvement of established programs within the United States Coral Reef Task Force (USCRTF) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Coral bleaching is the next threat that the reef is facing due to climate changes in the water.

In these newly protected regions it is now prohibited to fish, hunt, or mine for resources due to these proclamations. After this expansion, the reserve system will continue to serve as an invaluable area to monitor the effects of climate change and ocean acidification especially on reef and deep water systems. The reserve will also serve as a valuable repository for plant, animal, and microbial life for humans to use for discovery and to aid in restocking depleted resources elsewhere. Many new species and forms of life still await discovery in these protected waters that will yield advances in technology and our

Coral reefs are found in shallow tropical waters along the shores of islands and continents. Coral bleaching is a topic that gets left in the dust. Not many people really pay attention or show much interest in it. Widespread bleaching, involving major coral reef regions and resulting in mass coral mortality has raised concerns about linkage of the events to global phenomenons including global warming or climate change and increased UV radiation from ozone depletion. Corals provide a lot not just for us humans but for marine life as well. Marine Biology provides information about how bleaching happens and how it affects the coral. Buchheims’ article is full of logos and a few pathos while the other source is full of ethos. In The Nature Conservancy’s director Stephanie Wear provides us with lots of professional opinions

Coral bleaching is one of the visual effect of climate change. Caused by the stress put on the coral because of the temperature of the water becoming warmer. This major effect of climate change could lead to the death of the Coral. This has been especially noticed on the Great Barrier Reef. Only recently the earth has witnessed severe coral bleaching episodes all around the world.

Sadly, this gorgeous reef is slowly being destroyed by human faults (Hennessy). Such faults are carelessness like walking on the coral without a care, dropping anchors on the coral, dragging diving gear over them, breaking them and taking them home as souvenirs and knocking and grounding boats on them. Tourism has also created a negative impact; the Great Barrier Reef is one of the most popular attractions in the modern world. The reef is so fragile that by merely walking on a small part or driving a boat too close can destroy thousands of corals. Also things like pollution such as sewerage, oil spills, fertilizers and pesticides damage the reef, cause sevre damge to the reef as they spread though the water and kill off living organisms. These errors place Great Barrier Reef’s environment at a dangerous risk, affecting the overall species and beauty within it. With all of these specific conditions, we can clearly see that human actions can pose great threats to the coral reefs. Coral reefs live in very precise, fragile and balanced marine environments, therefore even the slightest change can have a huge impact on an entire coral ecosystem. These reefs are able to endure many natural stresses by adjusting, however the present human pressures are destroying the reefs such that they cannot recover.

The Great Barrier Reef is the most substantial living structure on Earth; this complex aquatic system houses around 1,500 different species of fish. Coral polyps living in the GBR released their algae as water approached 88°F, resulting in the coral becoming white. These vast bleaching events are becoming increasingly critical, lasting longer, and are occurring closer together; this is undoubtedly tied to climate change. This bleaching process is typically due to pollutants, an overabundance of sunlight, or very hot waters driving corals to eject algae. This process doesn't kill corals instantly. In fact, if conditions improve, algae can re-colonize corals and recoup. Without the algae (the coral’s main source of food), however, corals become

Within the past year or two the great barrier reef started to die. Scientists believe that this is happening due to coral bleaching. Coral bleaching is when the water is too warm for the coral and it begins to produce algae which causes it to turn white. It is possible for the corals to recover but that can only happen if temperatures drop. Over 90% of the reef has been affected by the bleaching. The reef is home to over 2,000 species of animals. The bleaching is causing many marine animals to lose their homes.

Glover’s Reef is a part of the second largest reef system in the world, the Belize Reef. In recent years, mostly due to tourism growth and the respective development for the tourists, ocean pollution has damaged many of species that live in Belize Reef. While the government has imposed a national reservation on the area that protects it from human destruction, it simply has not had the effect expected. On the Glover Reef, a research facility was created to gain a better understand of coral in the area and the best way to protect it. The hopeful future is that the research project gives scientist insight on how to protect the entirety of the Belize Barrier Reef System.

As many know, coral reefs are the most beautiful, structurally complicated and diverse marine ecosystems. Coral reefs do numerous amounts of things; for example, they provide habitats for various types of living organisms, they protect shorelines from storm damage, and produce and sustain white sandy beaches. Although coral reefs look feeble, they are actually strong and durable during certain conditions. Coral reefs are capable of recovering from brutal storms and even volcanic eruptions as long as the dusts and sediments settle and are washed away. Before the reefs can begin their healing process, the water condition needs to be clean and clear of all toxins. What’s killing the coral reefs then? Sadly, human enterprise is simultaneously destroying coral reefs directly and reducing their capacity to recover (Fujita,2003). First, we will talk about 3 major threats human enterprise has on the coral reefs. Keep in mind that the threats mentioned are not the only threats out there. We shall then talk about evidence against some of these topics. Last, we will talk about how these threats towards our coral reefs affect us humans; along with ways to change our environment.