Climate Change And Its Impact on Coral Reefs

I chose to talk about habitat engineering. This review will be directed toward the scientific community regarding the Great Barrier Reef. For a long time, there have been discussions regarding climate change and its effects on coral reefs. A small fraction of corals can be found in the deep sea, but the majority are found in tropical environments that are subject to rain, intense heat, and humidity. In coastal areas, reefs protect the coast by forming a barrier between the land and ocean and provide a large food source for communities. Individuals can harvest a variety of seafood that can be sold to markets or direct to consumers. And, they can make profits by being part of the food trade industry. This also benefits the job market because local fishermen can take this as an opportunity to provide for their families and contribute to economic growth. Globally, coral reefs contribute around $375 billion per year to the economy.

I chose to talk about habitat engineering. This review will be directed toward the scientific community regarding the Great Barrier Reef. For a long time, there have been discussions regarding climate change and its effects on coral reefs. A small fraction of corals can be found in the deep sea, but the majority are found in tropical environments that are subject to rain, intense heat, and humidity. In coastal areas, reefs protect the coast by forming a barrier between the land and ocean, and provide a large food source for communities.. The reasons are because it is very expensive and will cost between $100,000-1,000,00 per hectare. And, because making a physical change to the environment is something that only experienced professionals should be doing (ex: engineers collaborating with scientists). If individuals are unfamiliar with the biology or physical consequences, we would cause a significant setback.

Some solutions that we recommend are increasing public knowledge, creating artificial reef environments that tourists can enjoy, and reducing the amount of diving traffic so reefs can recover. In my opinion, I think it’s best to do interventions that will benefit the corals while also considering the pros and cons. The biggest thing to note is that many of the proposed interventions cannot keep up with the fast pace of habitat loss, and often fail to tackle the cause of ocean acidification and global carbon emissions (Albright 2019). If we can come up with approaches that will address both problems, then we may be able to find success, as long as we are consistent.