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Running head: RESTORATION 1

Restoration

Camryn Takahashi

Arizona State University


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Abstract

This is an essay that discusses the issue of coral bleaching. It is a persuasive essay so contains

several reasons why coral reefs need to be saved along with a rebuttal to reasons why people

believe saving the reefs is not worth it. More specifically, it talks about the causes of coral

bleaching such as global warming, pollution, etc, along with several statistics showing that coral

bleaching proves climate change is worsening.

Keywords: global warming, coral, restoration, pollution


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Restoration

According to an article by authors Michon Scott and Rebecca Lindsey, “El Ni​ño arrived

in 2016, and heat stress occurred at 51 percent of the world’s coral reefs into early 2017, when a

La Niña was in place,” (Scott, M., Lindsey, R., 2018, para. 5). Heat stress often causes coral

bleaching. Coral bleaching is a growing threat to the world's' coral reefs. It occurs when corals

“expel the algae (zooxantellae) living in their tissues causing the coral to turn completely white”

(N.O.A.A., 2010, para. 2). When corals bleach, they become vulnerable to diseases and can die.

It is imperative that people take action to help save the reefs. However, coral reefs cannot simply

be saved directly since coral bleaching is caused by stressors. We have to help solve problems

that affect the corals, especially global warming. Coral bleaching is not something new, it occurs

naturally. In recent years, coral bleaching has become a more pressing issue as the frequency of

bleachings has increased, ocean temperatures rise and feasibility of restoring the reefs decreases.

Overall, coral reefs are a very important ecosystem that are home to a wide variety of species and

even provide humans with resources like food and money, therefore need to be saved.

Two of the main reasons why not much action has been taken to solve coral bleaching are

the cost of restoration and climate change. According to the article, The cost and feasibility of

marine coastal restoration, provided by the Ecological Society of America, “​compared to

terrestrial ecosystems marine coastal ecosystems, particularly coral reefs, seagrass, and oyster

reefs, are more expensive to restore.” (Bayraktarov, E., Saunders, M. I., 2015, p. 9). Since coral

reefs cost so much money to restore, people see the issue as a waste of money; that money could

be put to better use than a reef. So the question remains, what justifies using millions of dollars

to save coral reefs instead of using them on a different issue?


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Coral reefs are not just a beautiful ecosystem, they aid to our economy. People depend

on the reefs for fishing, tourism, etc so spending money to save the reefs would benefit us in the

long run. Either way, by spending money to save the reefs, or losing money due to a lack of

resources, we are losing money. Both options result in a loss of money, but they differ in that one

saves the reef and one destroys it.

As global warming and climate change continues to warm the planet's oceans, large

portions of coral reefs bleach proving the need for action. An article titled, Global warming and

recurrent mass bleaching of corals said ​“​in 2016, only 8.9% of 1,156 surveyed reefs escaped with

no bleaching, compared to 42.4% of 631 reefs in 2002 and 44.7% of 638 in 1998,” (Hughes,

T.P., Kerry, J.T., 2017,para. 3). This proves that in just a short time frame, less than 20 years, the

amount of reefs being bleaching has increased dramatically. Coral bleaching is a naturally

occurring phenomenon, however, from data collected in these recent years, mass coral bleaching

events have been increasing in frequency. Since climate change is a worldwide issue, it would

take a planet wide effort to help solve the issue.

There are countless reasons why we should save coral reefs, one of the most important is

the reefs’ biodiversity. The Ocean Portal Team associated with the NOAA said, ​“​Coral reefs are

the most diverse of all marine ecosystems. They teem with life, with perhaps ​one-quarter of all

ocean species depending on reefs​ for food and shelter,” (The Ocean Portal Team, 2018, para. 1).

Once a species goes extinct, it is gone forever. It is crucial to restore the coral reefs and stop

climate change before the world loses hundreds of species that call the reefs their home.
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Restoring coral reefs cannot be done by directly solving the problem, for example,

planting coral in bleached areas. Many small scale solutions for restoration are being

implemented but it we are to save the reefs altogether, we have to look at the causes. Besides

ocean temperatures warming, pollution is one of the causes of coral bleaching. Runoff from

factories is one of the leading types of pollution affecting the reefs and it is preventable. If steps

were to be taken to reduce ocean pollution, we could decrease mass bleaching.

No matter who we are, what country we live in, what we look like, we need to

collectively realize that coral bleaching and climate change are legitimate issues. Climate change

does not discriminate. It doesn't only affect one country or continent, it affects us all. In order to

solve it, and by association reduce coral bleaching, people need to come together to figure out a

way to save our dying planet.


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References

Bayraktarov, E., Saunders, M. I., Abdullah, S., Mills, M., Beher, J., Possingham, H. P., . . .

Lovelock, C. E. (2015). The cost and feasibility of marine coastal restoration. ​Ecological

Applications​. doi:10.1890/15-1077.1

Hughes, T. P., Kerry, J. T., Álvarez-Noriega, M., Álvarez-Romero, J. G., Anderson, K. D.,

​ lobal warming and recurrent mass


Baird, A. H., ... Wilson, S. K. (2017, March 15).​ G

bleaching of corals. ​Nature, 543,​ 373-377. ​ doi: ​10.1038/nature21707

Scott, M., & Lindsey, R. (2018, August 01). Unprecedented 3 years of global coral bleaching,

2014-2017. Retrieved March 24, 2019, from

https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/unprecedented-3-years-glo

bal-coral-bleaching-2014–2017

The Ocean Portal Team & Knowlton, N. (2018, December 18). Corals and Coral Reefs.

Retrieved March 24, 2019, from

https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/invertebrates/corals-and-coral-reefs

US Department of Commerce, & National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2010,

March 15). ​What is coral bleaching?​ Retrieved March 17, 2019, from

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_bleach.html

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