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A Solution for Coral Reefs in Peril

Posted by Hemos on from the trying-to-correct-our-own-mistakes dept.

Alien54 writes "At the recent Coral Reef Symposium in Bali, Indonesia, scientists concluded that most of the world's ocean reefs have been killed or severely damaged with the remainder in certain jeopardy. Disastrous reverses in reef health threaten marine biodiversity, tourism, fisheries and shore protection worldwide. Reefs die for many reasons: rising water temperatures, sewage flows, eutrophication, disease, and negligence. A reef ecosystem that took hundreds of years to grow can be destroyed in a single afternoon by dredging, dynamite or cyanide fishing. But there is a solution. In pilot installations in Mexico, Panama, Indonesia, Maldives, Thailand, and Papua New Guinea, artificial reefs have been built where corals grow rapidly even in stressed environments. Applying a low voltage electrical current (completely safe for swimmers and marine life) to a submerged conductive structure causes dissolved mineral crystals in seawater to preciptate and adhere to that structure. Surviving coral fragments are mechanically attached, and end up doing very well indeed. During the 1998 warming, fewer than 5% of the natural reef corals survived. But on the artificial reefs, 80% of corals not only survived, they flourished. Corals from these reefs are now recolonizing the surrounding natural habitats."

8 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. Nice! by oneiron · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is the kind of technology our species needs to invest more time into. Bringing this planet back to life. Not that we should abandon our adventures into more efficient living for ourselves, but we owe it to our planet to keep it alive if we have the ability to do so.

    In the distant future, when we venture beyond this rock, do we really want to leave behind a giant ball of toxic tar orbiting the sun? It seems like we're on the verge of doing just that...if we even make it that far.

    1. Re:Nice! by danharan · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Nitpick...

      There doesn't need to be an opposition between doing what's good for humans and doing work like this.

      Corals are good carbon sinks. They are essential as breakwaters- pretty essential if you live by the coast line. As fish nurseries, wherever they are being rebuilt harvests could increase. Corals could also be a good source of income for many coastal people through tourism and sustainable harvesting - and we benefit from their beauty both directly and in our aquariums.

      This is a lot like just about every environmental issue I've looked at: the benefits to humans of acting in a responsible way are so enormous that it is absurd to oppose the care of our environment and the care of our habitat. We owe it to *ourselves* to take care of our habitat- our planet will do just fine, even after we're gone.

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      Information: "I want to be anthropomorphized"
    2. Re:Nice! by LinuxTard · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I may just be a tad cynical in my old age, but I don't see the corporations of America revitalizing the planet until there is a clear profit in doing so. Even the general "slap on the wrist" fines that offenders receive for polluting hardly stem the tide when costs for ridding themselves of waste properly are "too high".

      OK, off of my soapbox, bank to the cynicism.

      If there was a new planet to colonize -and- it had natural resources to exploit I could see the corps pulling up stakes on Earth and running roughshod on New Terra.

      *dons flameproof suit*

    3. Re:Nice! by kmhebert · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This is a pretty farfetched statement. Better to last a few BILLION more years on our home planet by taking good care of it than to watch massive and irreversible extinctions of plant and animal life over the course of a few hundred years due to apathy and greed. I liked this article quite a bit and I think that if we have the means to repair our oceans, of course we should do so. I feel that we should be smart enough to both enjoy the benefits of industrial society as well as ensure that the side effects of industry do not destroy our environment. There is no downside to clean air and water, industry should support these goals as well even if it trims their bottom line somewhat.

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      Regular Meta Moderators are not more likely to get mod points.
  2. This is great and all, but... by keiferb · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What happens when our entire ecosystem becomes "artificial"? The coral can't survive unless we're zapping the rocks they adhere to. I shudder to think how we're going to keep the elephants around...

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  3. Plurals. by irn_bru · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The Plural of Coral is Coral. This might seem silly - I don't make the rules - but that's how it is.

    You have it wrong in the title and wrong in the last line or article.

  4. Re:In other news... by Vexler · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Does the phrase "Wipe After Yourself" mean anything to you? The human species, more than any other, has been directly responsible for vast amounts of pollutants spewed into the environment. So, yeah, it is our problem to solve because we are the ones who caused it.

  5. Lazy thinking by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Plants and animals die every day, and have for millions of years. All of a sudden it's a problem we need to solve?"

    They have but we are the equivalent of a massive meteor strike. We accomplish in one generation what used to happen in a million years. Since we supposedly have the power to think and claim to be capable of moral choices I'd say just throwing our hands up in the air is a pretty lame and lazy excuse.

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    It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning