acidification

Reef Insurance | Earth Wise

January 4, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Coral reefs around the world face multiple dangers from warming waters, acidification, human activity, and more. Powerful storms often cause tremendous damage to reefs. When possible, snorkelers and divers are deployed to try to repair damage to reefs. But philanthropy and government grants are basically the only resources available to fund such actions.

Three years ago, tourist businesses and the government in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo purchased an insurance policy to offset costs of protecting the local parts of the Mesoamerican Reef. The environmental group the MAR Fund later took out an insurance policy on the rest of the reef in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras.

With this precedent, the Nature Conservancy recently purchased an insurance policy on behalf of the state of Hawaii to help offset repair work on its coral reefs. It is the first U.S. coral insurance contract.

Coral reefs are more than just hosts for marine life. They provide barriers against ocean storm surges, which is a major financial incentive for protecting them and hence an incentive to invest in insurance.

The new Hawaiian insurance policy has a premium of $110,000 a year and will provide $2 million in protection. Payouts occur when wind speeds go above 50 knots. No further proof of damage is required.

The Nature Conservancy has created teams called ‘Reef Brigades’ composed of snorkelers and divers who recover reef fragments, store them in ocean or shore-based nurseries, and then re-attach them when conditions are safe. It can be very expensive to do this sort of work, particularly when new corals grown in a nursery are required.

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Analysis: First U.S. coral insurance marks the rise of the reef brigades

Photo, posted September 14, 2011, courtesy of Greg McFall/NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Corals Saving Corals | Earth Wise

December 29, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A new study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, has found that under the right circumstances, disease-resistant corals can rescue corals that are more vulnerable to disease.

The researchers monitored a disease outbreak at a coral nursery in the Cayman Islands. They tracked the presence of disease in 650 coral fragments in various arrangements over a period of five months. They found that some corals are more resistant to disease just by being around other corals that are particularly resistant. In general, when there are only corals of the same genetic makeup, they are more vulnerable to disease than corals that grow among a mixture of genotypes. But beyond that, some vulnerable corals become more resistant to disease just by being around other corals that are particularly resistant. Proximity to the resistant genotypes helped to protect the susceptible corals from the effects of disease.

These findings provide new evidence that genetic diversity can help reduce disease transmission among corals and furthermore, it is important to consider how corals are arranged in coral nurseries or in reef restoration projects.

The ability of resistant coral to help protect vulnerable individuals appears to be similar to how vaccinations work among humans. Vaccinated individuals resist a disease, which effectively erects a barrier that weakens a disease’s ability to move through a population.

The researchers hope that the findings of this study will be integrated into coral nursery and reef restoration projects. By intentionally arranging corals with mixtures of genotypes, it will help rebuild coral resilience and help those corals that are vulnerable to disease to thrive.

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Corals Saving Corals

Photo, posted December 30, 2014, courtesy of NOAA’s National Ocean Service via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Offsetting Reef Acidification | Earth Wise

August 13, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system. It is composed of nearly 3,000 individual reefs and 900 islands covering an area of more than 130,000 square miles. In recent times, it has been under unprecedented stress from ocean warming, tropical cyclones, sediment and nutrient runoff, marine pests, and ocean acidification.

Among these stressors, ocean acidification is one of the most significant threats to the long-term viability of the reef because acidification affects the ability of corals to rebuild and repair their structures and recover from bleaching events.

New research from CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, studied the impact of artificial ocean alkalinization on the acidity of the waters in the Great Barrier Reef. The idea is to inject a source of alkalinity into the ocean, an accelerated version of a natural process that occurs from the chemical weathering of minerals under the sea.

The results of the study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, are that injecting an alkalinizing agent into the ocean along the length of the Reef would make it possible to offset ten years’ worth of ocean acidification based on the present rate of human-generated carbon emissions. Such an effort could use an abundant mineral resource like olivine, which is already mined near the Great Barrier Reef. Releasing 30,000 tons a day of the alkalinizing agent from an existing shipping line from a bulk carrier would reach almost the whole of the Great Barrier Reef.

In response to the declining health of coral reef ecosystems, many different intervention concepts and technologies are under consideration. The goal of these would be to minimize environmental pressures and enhance the resilience of the ecosystems.

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Projected acidification of the Great Barrier Reef could be offset by ten years

Photo, posted August 4, 2019, courtesy of Larry Koester via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Compost And Landfills | Earth Wise

January 19, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Composting is popular as a way to keep solid waste out of landfills and many people turn much of their kitchen waste into rich soil amendments. Cities and towns across the country have composting programs that collect waste from residents to produce large quantities of compost rather than adding the waste to landfills. A new study from North Carolina State University looked into the environmental benefits of actually using compost at landfills.

Most municipal composting programs require that the compost they produce gets used “beneficially”. The new research shows that using compost as an alternative daily cover at landfills is competitive and often superior to the use of compost as a soil amendment in terms of its environmental benefits.

Landfills apply a layer of daily cover to reduce odors, reduce windblown debris, and keep vermin out of landfill waste. Federal regulations require six inches of soil as a daily cover.

Compost from food waste in particular is not always suitable for soil amendment in gardens and agricultural fields because it often contains broken glass and other contaminants.

The North Carolina State study looked at the environmental impact of using compost as daily cover in landfills compared with its use as a soil amendment. They looked at global warming potential, acidification potential, eutrophication (which is the amount of nutrients released to ground and surface water), cumulative energy demand, and the depletion of resources.

The study concluded that using compost as landfill daily cover is environmentally superior with regard to eutrophication, acidification, and global warming potential. On the other hand, soil amendment was better in terms of resource depletion and cumulative energy demand.

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Applying Compost to Landfills Could Have Environmental Benefits

Photo, posted April 22, 2008, courtesy of Alachua County via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Caribbean Coral Reefs Under Siege | Earth Wise

January 4, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Coral reefs around the world have been suffering from warming seas and increasing acidification, both a result of human activity. In the Caribbean, a new threat has emerged in the form of invasive algae.

New research published in Scientific Reports explains how an aggressive, crust-like alga is overgrowing shallow reefs and taking the place of coral that was damaged by powerful storms that exposed areas of the undersea rock where corals grew.

Researchers from Oxford University, the Carnegie Institution, and California State University Northridge have been studying these peyssonnelid algal crusts, or PACs, for several years in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The PAC has been out-competing coral larvae for surface space and then growing over the existing reef architecture, greatly damaging delicate reef ecosystems.

New corals actually prefer to settle on crusty surfaces created by a different type of algae called crustose algae, or CCA. CCA acts as guideposts for coral larvae by producing biochemical signals as part of a microbial community that entice baby coral to affix itself.

In contrast, the destructive PAC algae exclude coral settlement. The researchers determined that the microbial community associated with PAC algae is deployed to deter grazing from fish and other marine creatures. Unfortunately, it also deters coral.

Fragile coral ecosystems are already under assault by environmental pollution and global warming. Now, in the aftermath of powerful hurricanes like Irma and Maria, algal crusts are taking over reef communities and posing an existential threat to Caribbean corals.

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An unusual microbiome characterises a spatially-aggressive crustose alga rapidly overgrowing shallow Caribbean reefs

Photo, posted January 11, 2015, courtesy of Falco Ermert via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Recovering Marine Life By 2050 | Earth Wise

May 27, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Marine life has faced challenges for a long time. There have been centuries of overfishing in many places and pollution of various types has been especially harmful in recent decades. But despite all of this, a new scientific review published in the journal Nature contends that marine life in the world’s oceans could be fully restored in as little as 30 years provided that aggressive conservation policies are adopted.

The research spotlights the strong resiliency of ocean animals and cites the successful recovery of a number of marine species, including humpback whales.

The study indicates that nations around the world must agree to designate 20 to 30 percent of the oceans as marine protected areas, institute sustainable fishing guidelines, and regulate pollution. These measures would not come cheaply. The estimated cost would be around $20 billion a year.

However, the report also estimates that the economic return on this investment would be tenfold and would create millions of new jobs. Rebuilding fish stocks and maintaining sustainable fishing policies could increase global profits of the seafood industry by over $50 billion a year. Conserving coastal wetlands could save the insurance industry more than $50 billion a year as well by reducing storm damage.

A major sticking point, however, is climate change. Climate change is increasing ocean temperatures and driving acidification. Unless these changes are brought under control, the restoration of marine life is not going to be successful. We have reached the point where it is within our power to choose between a future with a resilient and vibrant ocean or an irreversibly disrupted ocean. Whether we embrace that challenge remains to be seen.

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Marine Life Could Recover By 2050 With the Right Policies, Study Finds

Photo, posted April 20, 2012, courtesy of Matthias Hiltner via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A New Kind Of Coral Nursery

October 22, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Coral reefs around the world are struggling from warming waters and increasing ocean acidification driven by excess carbon dioxide. Many of the world’s greatest reefs – such as Australia’s Great Barrier Reef – have seen steep declines over the past decade.

But apart from the global environmental threat, reefs also are often damaged by various marine accidents such as ships grounding on them. Such events can severely damage a reef and scatter countless small coral fragments onto the seafloor. These small pieces of coral are not actually dead; they can continue on with their lives if they are relocated to a suitable environment such as a coral nursery.

Coral nurseries are generally small installations that allow coral fragments – typically pieces about 4 inches in length – to recover from their reef breaking up and to grow until they are large enough for conservation managers to replant them into reefs that need them. This strategy works well in places where corals grow relatively quickly – such as Florida and the Caribbean – but not as well in places where coral grows more slowly, such as Hawaii.

Recently, coral experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration working with mechanical engineering students at the University of Hawaii have developed a new type of coral nursery that can save fully formed coral colonies as opposed to small coral fragments.

The nurseries are large, carefully designed structures that can be loaded up with corals that have become detached from their reefs. Some of these new structures were installed in the waters of Oahu in the summer of 2018 and were populated with corals. The relocated corals, which would have otherwise died, are now recovering nicely in their new coral daycare centers and will soon be replanted back into the reef.

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NOAA Develops A New Type of Coral Nursery

Photo, posted July 29, 2010, courtesy of Kyle Taylor via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

One Million Extinctions

June 14, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A group of 145 expert authors from 50 countries has produced a report based upon a review of 15,000 scientific and government sources that is the first comprehensive look at the state of the planet’s biodiversity in 15 years. The conclusions are alarming.

Thanks to human pressures, one million species may be pushed to extinction in the next few years, something with serious consequences for human beings as well as the rest of life on earth.

Based upon scientific studies as well as indigenous and local knowledge, the evidence is overwhelming that human activities are the primary cause of nature’s decline. The report ranked the major drivers of species decline as land conversion, including deforestation; overfishing; bush meat hunting and poaching; climate change; pollution; and invasive alien species.

The tremendous variety of living species on our plant which number at least 8.7 million and perhaps many more – biodiversity – constitutes a life-supporting safety net that provides our food, clean water, air, energy, and more.

In parts of the ocean, little life remains but green slime. Some remote tropical forests are nearly silent because insects have vanished. Many grasslands are becoming deserts. Human activity has severely altered more than 75% of Earth’s land areas and has impacted 66% of the oceans. The world’s oceans increasingly are characterized by plastics, dead zones, overfishing, and acidification.

The main message of the 1,500-page report is that transformative change is urgently needed. In order to safeguard a healthy planet, society needs to shift from a sole focus on chasing economic growth. This won’t be easy, but we must come to the understanding that nature is the foundation for development before it is too late.

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One million species at risk of extinction, UN report warns

Photo, posted January 1, 2014, courtesy of Eric Kilby via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Another Problem For Coral Reefs

April 5, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Coral reefs around the world have been suffering in recent years from warming ocean temperatures as well as from increasing ocean acidification. Corals are very sensitive organisms that can only tolerate relatively slight changes in their environment. Thus, the majority of reef-building corals are found in tropical and subtropical waters with favorable conditions.

New research has confirmed that drastic changes in ocean salinity from, for example, severe freshwater flooding, provoke similar stress responses in corals as the heating that has resulted in freshwater bleaching and, eventually, coral death.

The coast of northeast Queensland in Australia has experienced abnormal monsoon-related freshwater flooding that caused extreme and sudden changes in the ocean salt concentration. In places, nearshore reefs were exposed to water with only half the normal ocean salinity. The result has been a shock response in corals that prevents normal cell function. Unlike their response to heat stress, corals exposed to reduced salinity experience a complete collapse of their internal cellular protein balance.

The central Great Barrier Reef has actually been relatively free from mass thermal bleaching events this Australian summer, but many coastal reefs instead have been battling dramatic changes in water conditions as a result of massive plumes of floodwater.

The wild weather in Australia is undoubtedly associated with the changing climate and this new research shows that it is leading to yet another threat to the world’s coral reefs. With the frequency and severity of heavy rainfall and runoff events predicted to continue to increase over the next few decades, proactive measures to increase the resiliency of coral reefs are needed more than ever.

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Reduced salinity of seawater wreaks havoc on coral chemistry

Photo, posted December 12, 2010, courtesy of Gareth Williams via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Heat-Resistant Corals

August 31, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

All over the world, coral reefs are being wiped out by rising sea temperatures brought about by climate change. When sea temperatures get too high, the symbiotic relationship between coral polyps and microscopic algae living within the coral breaks down and the coral either digests or expels the algae. The result is coral bleaching which weakens, and if it persists, kills the coral.

Geoengineering And Developing Countries

June 21, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

There are some mind-boggling schemes being discussed to mitigate the global warming caused by greenhouse gases. These include placing giant mirrors in orbit to reflect sunlight before it reaches Earth and launching millions of tons of sulfur into the stratosphere to simulate the effects of a major volcanic eruption.

Protecting Reefs Of Hope

June 4, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

One of the most harmful effects of the changing climate is what is happening to coral reefs. Warmer ocean temperatures and acidification are causing widespread bleaching of coral. Stressed corals expel the algae living in their tissue, turning the corals white and robbing them of nutrients. When bleaching events persist, the corals starve and die. Reefs everywhere have been experiencing mass bleaching events in recent years with over 70% of the coral reefs around the world being damaged.

Storing Carbon in the Ocean

October 6, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

As carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere continue to rise, it may be that clean energy technologies, electric cars, and other methods of reducing emissions may not be enough. Carbon sequestration – sucking carbon out of the atmosphere – is seen by many as a crucial part of the solution.

Threats To Coral Reefs

May 12, 2017 By EarthWise

There has been much news recently about the growing bleaching events going on in the world’s coral reefs associated with ocean warming and acidification. The massive damage to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is an ongoing tragedy.