Pollution Is More Damaging to Coral Reefs

This image is of the lively coral from 2013. Courtesy of Jim Snover.

This image shows the bleaching of the coral reef. Photo courtesy of Global Coral Bleaching.

When people think of coral reefs they typically think of bright pinks and blues that can be seen from a long distance. However, these vibrant colors of the coral reefs around the world are fading.

Samantha McGonigle, a SCUBA diver, says, “In the past few years the coral reefs have been experiencing a lot of bleaching as a result of the warming temperatures of the oceans. I’ve seen it first-hand in the great barrier reef. Whole ecosystems are gone or dying because they can’t survive the warmer temperatures. Because of that the first are fleeing and dying at alarming rates and it’s only exacerbating the issue.”

Pollution and the bleaching of coral reef are both environmental catastrophes. And these issues are more related than people tend to think. Pollution causes more coral bleaching.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) describes the process of bleaching as excess nutrients in the ocean leading to poor water quality with a decreased amount of oxygen and increased amount of nutrients. This act of the environmental catastrophe is eutrophication. The series Ocean Facts expands on this to explain zooxanthellae algae is what gives coral their color and when coral reject the algae due to stress they become white or bleached. The coral is still alive, but very weak and will die if the the algae does not return and be accepted soon.

Coral reef bleaching is a result of both land-based pollution and marine-based pollution.

According to the National Ocean Service land-based sources are the cause for many coral reef ecosystem stress. The same source states many of the pollutants are a result of agriculture, deforestation, grazing of feral animals, fires, road building, and urbanization.

Reef Resilience discusses how commercial, recreational, and passenger vessels degrade the health of coral reefs in different ways. These vessels leave discharge, such as fuel and solid waste. They also spread invasive species that disrupt the natural processes in the ocean.

National Marine Sanctuaries under the NOAA touches on this subject by describing how pollution is blocking sunlight from reaching the ocean depths resulting in the stunt of coral growth. Nutrient runoff creates algae blooms which block sunlight from penetrating the ocean. This results in the corals being more susceptible to bleaching.

The Scientific American claims that excessive coastal pollution and overfishing are the causes of the over 50% of depletion of coral cover in the Caribbean since the 1970s. They declare overfishing and pollution are causing more harm to coral reefs than climate change.

Tourists visit many places to see the beauty in the ocean, but the bleaching of coral may stop this tourism. This could lead to less pollution, however, it may be too late at that point. The tourism industry will suffer the most due to coral bleaching potentially losing $10 billion — $40 billion according to Reef Resiliance.

Jim Snover, a worldwide SCUBA diver said “ Coral bleaching is very unfortunate. It’s happening worldwide, especially in the Great Barrier Reef, the largest reef system in the world. What I saw was uncontrolled developement on the coast was causing silt to go out in to the reef area, clogging the reefs, and actually causing them to die. They are going to start losing their business for tourism for SCUBA diving in that area as the reef dies. And then, no one really knows what the ultimate outcome will be when the reefs systems die around the world. It is very unfortunate.”

Hopefully, this problem will be solved before it worsens.