Well I decided to do my senior project on the Great Barrier Reef because its such a beautiful place and it’s a big part of biodiversity because it house homes to many species of marine life. I even decided to focus more on it because the bleaching affect on the reefs from the climate change. I even feel by 2110 that many reefs won’t have a chance to survive if we don’t step up to protect our reefs because it’s not just a polar bear that global warming is effecting, but the reefs are a major part of our oceans. Without coral reefs like the Great Barrier Reef, we can lose many marine life and resources we use and this can destroy an ecosystem and the way we see marine life. From most of my sources, I got that many of the topics were about the problems and problems yet to come if we don’t start protecting our oceans. The ocean is already getting more acidic from the climate change and this affects the health of coral reefs, which changes the sea level, elevated storm frequency and intensity, altered ocean circulation, variation in precipitation and land runoff, and increasing ocean acidification. I even think if we keep on increasing levels of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, we will probably bleach the entire reefs and lose so much of the biodiversity of the ocean. I think if we start by going green and finding better ways of energy, we won’t release as much CO2 in the atmosphere because when this happens the water temperature goes up, many storms are formed and the coral starts to die. 1. Chandler, Jo. "Scientist's oceanic plea warns of imminent reef eulogy." The Age - Business, World & Breaking News | Melbourne, Australia. Web. 11 Feb. 2010.
In this website I read about a scientist name Dr. John Veron and how he has experienced a change in the Great Barrier Reef. He talks about how the reef is one of the greatest structures created by life. Dr. Veron starts to talk about the climate changes and how it bleaching due to the temperatures of the water. Dr. Veron also says the worst bleaching is yet to come. He claims by 2030 and by 2050, "the only corals left alive will be those in refuges on deep outer slopes of reefs. The rest will be unrecognisable — a bacterial slime, devoid of life." Dr. Veron even speaks of how humans impact the climate change and the bleaching of the reef due to increasing levels of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
2. Butler, Rhett A. "Coral reefs decimated by 2050, Great Barrier Reef's coral 95% dead." Conservation and environmental science news. Web. 11 Feb. 2010.
What I found in the article "Coral reefs decimated by 2050, Great Barrier Reef's coral 95% dead." was that 95% of the Great Barrier Reef’s life can be lost by ocean temperatures increase by the 1.5 degrees Celsius by the year 2050. I even read up on Hoegh Guldberg, the head of the University of Queensland's Centre for Marine Studies. Hoegh also explains how climate change is not just affecting Great Barrier Reef, but all of the oceans reefs. The Carnegie Institution Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University, says the most important threat facing the Great Barrier Reef and other reefs of the world is higher sea temperatures that cause thermal stress for corals. Hoegh Guldberg also talks about how many species of coral are getting stressed out by the warmer temperature and the cycle of coral isn’t producing and when the bleaching starts it can destroy a entire ecosystem. Hoegh Guldberg also stated that the ocean is getting more acidic and how some of the factors that will affect the health of coral reefs including changes in sea level, elevated storm frequency and intensity, altered ocean circulation, variation in precipitation and land runoff, and increasing ocean acidification.
3. "WWF - Impacts of global warming on corals." WWF - WWF. Web. 11 Feb. 2010.
In the WWF website I got many interesting facts about coral reefs for example, more frequent tropical storms caused by global warming could break up the coral. More frequent heavy rains means more flooding, more river runoff, and therefore more sediment deposit in the seas. I really got more info on how to help save and prevent or reefs because it’s a extremely important for biodiversity, because it provides homes to over 25% of all marine life. Coral reefs are also a very sensitive part of the ecosystem and it’s a long cycle for coral reefs to produce more.
4 comments:
I really like your focus! I also liked how you wrote about what you think reefs will be like in 2110. I know you have enough research on what is happening now, and the link between dying reefs and global warming, but now I can't wait to see what you do with your film. What would happen to earth if there were no more reefs?
I think this was good. You really have a good idea of what you are researching and going for. I think that you should continue to look for the effects of climate change on the coral reefs. Another good thing to find out is to find out how much human waste is causing problems for the coral reefs and the animals that live there. Another good idea would be to find or predict how many coral reef species will be remaining after 100 years if things don't change, maybe that will be a wake up call for people in your senior project video.
You have a very thought provoking example of how climate change will impact the biodiversity of the ocean. I really liked that you focused on multiple ways that climate change will impact coral reefs. Your topic already seems very oriented toward biodiversity in the future. Good job!
I like your blog entry you seem very interested on your topic and I think you did very good research and you know exactly what your sources are about. You talk about how the ocean is becoming more acidic due to co2 that is coming into the ocean. And how it could affect the reefs in the ocean which is bad because there are a lot of living things in the reefs.
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