Barrier reef in trouble

[diverrick]

I just read this. it's so sad I don't think anyone can do much about it though.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm.../20040221/sc_nm/environment_australia_reef_dc

 

[diverrick]

That would mean that colder waters where reefs cannot exist, now will come into the range for reefs to exist where they do not do so currently. At least that's what it seems will happen.

 

[archman]

Fauna with narrow environmental tolerances make lousy pioneer colonizers. It's far more likely the corals will retreat to deeper water or die. Don't expect to see much recruitment into higher latitudes from hermatypic corals, or any corals for that matter. They're not exactly known for rapid growth or having high settlement success. And global warming's more immediate environmental effects are not elevated temperatures, but altered weather and thermohaline circulation patterns. Meaning you have a much harder time predicting hurricanes and El Nino's, which do a FAR greater number on corals.

What you can expect to see are lots of algae. Algae everywhere. Should make the damselfish happy.

How do you get the title of this post changed? If I didn't note what forum it was in, I never would have bothered opening it.

 

[diverrick]

hows that?

 

[love2godeep]

In the Philippines, there's a lot of wholesale destruction of the reefs by dynamite fishing, cyanide fishing, and net fishing. Also, they're cutting down so many trees that there's major erosion, with mud flowing into the water and covering more corals.

The reefs there are so beautiful, but every time I go back, the reefs are a little sparser.

It's so sad. The people are compromising their future in order to have enough to eat today.

 

[5615mike]

very sad

 

[bermudaskink]

I think this is happening because the capatilist west is constantly screwing over the 3rd world and places like the Phillipines don't have enough to survive without destorying their own environment... also I would guess that the natives actions are induced by the government's mismangement of the island's resources, and the human communities which rely on them (overpopulation etc.). You can't blame the people for trying to survive.

 

[drtherc]

I think this is happening because the capatilist west is constantly screwing over the 3rd world and places like the Phillipines don't have enough to survive without destorying their own environment... also I would guess that the natives actions are induced by the government's mismangement of the island's resources, and the human communities which rely on them (overpopulation etc.). You can't blame the people for trying to survive.

I agree last part of your statement(regarding the government's mismanagement, and people trying to survive), but the "capitalist west" crack is a load of s***. The reason the people of the Philippines don't have anything is because their own government in Marcos was raping the country. Which is true in most 3rd world countries. Most of the aid the "capitalist west" (in the form of the United States) goes straight into the pockets of the government bureaucrats, instead of to the people who so desparately need it. It's also the efforts of the "capitalist west" that are helping educate Filipinos in proper preservation of their resources by providing nets to fish with, and good agricultural practices to use in growing crops. Mostly, Filipinos fish in order to eat themselves. Sure, they supply to the aquarium hobby, but that's not the bulk of their fishing.

 

[archman]

Another reason for small, war-torn island nations to apply for annexation by large industrialized countries like the U.S. and Canada. Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands (both territories) are afforded a great deal of stability by falling under such protective blankets. I shudder as to how Hawaii might have fared if it was left on its own in the modern age.

 

[jagfish]

Good point, archman...

JAG