Other sources of reef destruction

Since we now know how scuba divers are destroying our reefs and what the impact of that is, I am going to look at reefs through a wider lens.  For this blog I will be changing the topic ever so slightly to look at the degradation of our reefs from all means of human impact.  According to ocean world.com, 10% of our oceans reefs are completely destroyed and in places like the Philippines with no regulations on fishing and pollution as much as 70% of the reefs are gone.

Coral is under attack from a variety of different angles.  The largest is global warming.  Coral has existed as is for thousands of years, growing in the ocean temperatures that it is accustomed to.  With global warming raising the temperatures of our oceans, it is causing problems for the reefs.  The warmer waters stress the coral out, making it more susceptible to diseases.  This causes the coral to die off in mass quantities, turning it white.  This is called coral bleaching and according to oceanworld.com it is responsible for up to 25% of reef destruction world wide and as much as 50% in the Indian Ocean. 

The other major cause of reef destruction is pollution.  Since most reefs are in waters close to developing countries, there is no regulation on sewage and waste dumping.  This means most countries just dump their human and toxic waste into the oceans, killing the reefs and the fish that call them home. 

Other contributors to reef destruction are development and fishing.  Again since the reefs sit near developing countries, there are no fishing or development regulations on many reefs.  This means that it is open season for fisherman to use dynamite or nets to catch rare and endangered species off our fragile reefs.  It also means that developers can build resorts in the ideal location, right on a coral reef!  Who wouldn’t want to spend a week at a resort that is right by a coral reef?  Don’t mind the fact that the hundreds of visitors a day will surely kill the reef and scare all of the marine life away!

The degradation of our reefs is a serious issue that needs to be dealt with.  Tune in next week for more information on our dyeing reefs and what we can do to help them!

http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/students/coral/coral5.htm
http://www.destination-scuba.com/Coral-reef-destruction.html

A fisherman in the Philippines using dynamite to catch fish.  Dynamite fishing not only kills fish but the reef around it aswell.     http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/students/coral/coral5.htm