In Australia, The Great Barrier Reef has suffered mass bleaching due to global warming. The Barrier Reef was pronounced dead back in March 2016, as large areas of the Great Barrier Reef turn white, scientists are losing hope that the world’s largest living organism can be saved as a whole, if not at all. Like coral across the world, the reef has been severely damaged by the warming of the oceans with up to 95 percent of areas surveyed…
southern group (Fig. 1). The northern islands are low-lying, sparsely populated coral atolls. Highest Point of the islands is Mount Te Manga with a height of 652 m located in the Rarotonga Island on where the capital is situated. Generally, islands on the Earth are said…
It is 2,300km-long ecosystem that comprises of thousands of reefs and hundreds of islands made up of over 600 types of hard and soft coral. It is one of the seven wonders of the world. It is a popular tourist destination with over 2 million visitors every year. It earns $5-6 million every year from these visits. It is a home for many animals such as 30 species of whales, dolphins and…
3.4 Case Studies 3.4.1 Biofuel from GM Macro algae Hydrocarbon biofuels are produced by genetically modified seaweed which are obtained by inserting genes from high hydrocarbon producing micro algae into high growth seaweed species. Botryococcus braunii (BB) a green micro algae that produces large amounts of aliphatic hydrocarbon molecules is used as a source for genetic material. The genes that produce hydrocarbon in BB are identified, removed, cloned and subsequently inserted into high…
Coastal geomorphology is similar to geomorphology, but the area of focus is on seas and oceans (Davidson-Arnott, 2010). Researches study the development and progression of the coast and how it reacts under particular conditions including sea level changes. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report in 2013 stated that sea level rise will occur in approximately 95% of the ocean area, with estimates that seas will rise between 26 and 82 cm. Therefore, we can assume it is probable…
major current systems. These shifts in the patterns of ocean currents are capable of having great impact on the allocation and amount of marine ecosystems, which is shown by many El Nino-Southern Oscillations and their impacts on kelp forests and coral reefs…
heatwaves, tropical cyclones, floods, major storms - Increase in number of fires in the forest - increase in acidity in the ocean → coral reefs bleaching Coral Reef Formation • Name and describe the process by which marine organisms can produce carbonate rich structures such as coral reefs Calcification is the process by which marine organisms such as shells and coral reefs are able to form calcium carbonate…
Is climate change real? If the corals in coral reefs were asked, I believe they would say yes. I happen to agree with them. Coral reefs are dying off or becoming unhealthy due to too warm temperatures and ocean acidification. Population declines, warmer temperatures, and ocean acidification are caused by climate change, which in turn is thought to be caused by humans. A definition of climate change is; a change in global or regional climate patterns which can be attributed to increased levels of…
Modern Climate Change and Global Warming Affect on Society The Earth is 4.6 Billion years old, and over this course of time, there have been great changes in Earth’s geology that we as humans have never been able to witness due to our short life span on the geologic time scale. It is not until the past couple of decades where we are seeing geologic changes in our lifetime due to human made climate change. Fossil fuels such as gas and coal are used as sources of energy, but they have increased…
The increase in ocean acidification affects humans because of coral degradation. When coal dies or is damaged, the animal populations that rely upon reefs can become vastly affected. Fish, for example, are largely reliant upon coral, some eat it and others like the clownfish live within it. When coral reefs suffer, so do populations of marine organisms, and by extension, human that able to feed themselves, and make a living off of…