Climate Change on Coral Reefs

Coral Reefs are one of the most diverse ecosystems in the ocean. They are often called the rainforests of the ocean. Corals only cover one-tenth of the ocean floor but they are homes and shelter to 25 percent of known marine species (Chicago Tribune).  Coral reefs act as a natural breakwater for strong waves and storms. They also provide food and a job for many millions of people and have a huge tourism revenue (New York Times). Even though corals are important to people, humans have the greatest threat to the coral reefs. Humans are destroying the reefs with pollution, overfishing, habitat destruction, and contributing to global warming. One of the greatest stressors is the rise in ocean temperatures.  (Ocean Portal)

When the ocean temperatures rise is causes the coral reef polyps to expel their symbiotic photosynthetic algae called zooxanthellae making the corals turn white. This process is called coral bleaching. The zooxanthellae provide the reef with its bright colors and 70 % of their nutrients. (LA Times) Since the return of El Nino in the Pacific Ocean and the effects of climate change the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has just declared the third global coral bleaching event in history (LA Times). Even In the Great Barrier Reef in Australia which one of the most highly protected areas in the world has seen a 50 % decline in reefs in the last 50 years (The New York Times). There were 2,600 of marine scientists gathering for the International Coral Reef Symposium conference and there they talked about ways to stop of the degradation of reefs. (New York Times) Recent studies in Hawaii have shown that corals that have been bleached before and survived are weak and it is harder for them to withstand warm temperatures in the future. (Chicago Tribune)  Some Local actions have occurred in order to save the reefs such as rebuilding fish stocks, reducing harmful runoff and establishing more marine protected areas (New York Times).

There has been a species found that can protect itself against rising temperatures and ocean acidification.  The researchers have found that the species Porities cylindrica contains a calcifying fluid that helps it maintain a pH level that is not influenced by the pH level in the water. This fluid helps the coral to grow and strive when the ocean is acidic. This species can be found at the Heron Island Lagoon and the Great Barrier Reef. They stated that the nest step in the research is to find out if the species from other environments have the mechanisms to survive in the acidic ocean. A researcher stated, “We also need to explore whether rising sea temperatures impacts their ability to maintain a constant internal pH level.” (Marine Science Today).

Actions are taking place in order to help save the reefs from rising sea temperatures. Help has to start somewhere and if nothing takes place the world might just see its last brightly colored coral reef.

References:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-hawaii-coral-recover-20150129-story.html

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/09/how-to-rescue-the-worlds-reefs/?_r=0

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-helvarg-coral-reef-bleaching-20151101-story.html

http://ocean.si.edu/corals-and-coral-reefs    

http://marinesciencetoday.com/2015/10/14/this-coral-species-can-protect-itself-against-ocean-acidification/#ixzz40IZCfLnT

The Battle of the Century: World Population vs Planet Earth

Photo Credit

As of today there are approximately 7,397,636,757 people on this plant.  Today, 366,805 were born and 153,632 died giving a population growth of 213,173 (Cenus).  According to the United Nations, the world is estimated to reach upwards of 10.5 billion by the turn of the century.  Of the millions of species on this planet, humans as a whole have taken over completely pushing others to the side.  We take what we need via natural resources leaving little regard for the other inhabitants or even the planet itself.  With so many people requiring the same “needs” and expectations, how can we prevent the eminent demise and destruction of these resources?  The answer lies in the world population.

 Generally speaking, the issue with population growth is that certain countries have been having a stable increase while others are sky rocketing.  Japan and Western Europe have had consistent growth while places like Russia have actually been experiencing population decrease.  Some African countries are decreasing as well, however, they are among the highest of the rapidly growing countries including India, China, the United States, and Australia.  Each country has their own demography to deal with and views their situation differently.  Interestingly enough, China has just removed their law stating that each family can only have one child.  Why would they do this in such a planetary emergency?  For China specifically, they need to increase the younger demographic to fill the labor roles of aging generations to keep a healthy economy.  However, many of the Chinese populous have decided against taking advantage of this change in regulations because they understand the cost of bringing new life into the world (Buckley, 2015). 

What kind of costs are we talking about besides monetary? Well, as the population fluctuates so does the climate, water and food supply, and energy.  The climate is the fundamental support system for all life and is shaped by all of our activities.  With populations increasing, we are needing more land for cities to expand.  But when we take up these lands, we are losing opportunities for farming or destroying forests which supply oxygen, shelter other organisms, and help absorb our increasing carbon emissions.  By 2050, the demand for food and land is going to at least double and potentially triple by the century change.  This is only really counting those who regard food as a commodity, think of the 1 billion who are already malnourished and are stuck in areas with little chance of farming or moving.  The pressure will be increasing as populations expand taking up more land while trying to increase our food supply to accommodate the vast numbers of people. 

Currently this planet is not prepared to host the inevitable 10 billion people in its not so distant future.   As the population increases, our resources diminish in a directly proportional manner. When it comes down to it, the future appears bleak unless major changes are to occur.  I propose we seriously consider the demands that are inevitable when countries begin struggling to provide for their people.  Whether that means imposing a limit on births or better future planning, something needs to be done.  

References:

Buckley, Chris. China Ends One Child Policy, Allowing Families Two Children. (29 October 2015)

Collaborators with World Population Balance. Frequently Asked Questions: World Population 

Balance. (Updated 2015)

Emmot, Stephen. Humans: the Real Threat to Life on Earth. (29 June 2013)

Gais, Hannah. How Many People is Too Many People. (27 September 2013)

UNFPA. Population and Sustainable Development in the Post-2015 Agenda. (2014)

Dam Removal: Restoring Aquatic Life in the Penobscot River

The Penobscot River is home to many aquatic species, such as salmon, shad, strgeon, alewives, and eels (Bidggod, 2013). These species all play a critical role in their ecosystem; they provide food for many other species, and they created industry such as fisheries. Many of these crucial species that were once abundant, have been pushed to endangerment in recent decades.

The decline in fish started when dams were built in the Penobscot. Thirty foot dams such as the Veazie Dam (picture below) and several others make it increasingly hard for fish to make it up river to their spawning grounds (Miller, 2015). If the fish do not make it to their spawning grounds it is likely that they will die before they can replace themselves.

Photo Credit

            Dam removal projects such as the one in the Penobscot work to restore the natural state of the waterway. The project in Maine began in 1999, and it was led by the Penobscot River Restoration Trust (Bidgood, 2013). The project required emhense cooperation between the state and federal government, a power company, and the Penobscot Indian Nation (Tercek, 2012); overall it cost upwards of $60 million (Carpenter, 2012)

Dam removal has provided over 1,000 miles of open river habitat. This has drastically increased

 fish population size in just a few years. Since the removal alewives, American shad and other aquatic species are rising in numbers. Fish sampling has estimated a 45-fold increase since 2013 (Miller, 2015).

The shortnose sturgeon is a unique species of fish present in the Penobscot. It is characterized by its bony body and is capability to live over 50 years. Problems such as overharvesting, loss of habitat, and pollution led to the fish being placed on the endangered species list in 1967. The take down of the Veazie Dam and the Great Works Dam has given the shortnose sturgeon access to 100% of its historic habitat. Since the dam removals, the species has been found up stream in habitat it hasn’t had access to in over 100 years (University of Main, 2015).

Furthermore, the Penobscot is one of the few rivers left that is home to the Atlantic Salmon. Since dam removal population size has fluctuated greatly. The year after removal was and all time low for the specie, but the following year in 2013 the species was approximated to be 726 salmon (Miller, 2015). This is not a ideal population size, but it does show growth. The lack of flourishing could be due to the salmon’s complicated life cycle. As the diagram below shows, salmon have many stages of life and can take several years to come in shore to reproduce. Even if the population size has not shown much growth yet it could very likely be caused by a lag in its life cycle.

Photo Credit

            This is one of the largest dam removal projects to take place so far. In just a few short years fish populations have improved exceptionally. Many hope that the positive results of this project will lead to other dam removals nationally.

       On a global scale, many countries that are less developed have not yet built dams. With the knowledge that has been gained from these removal projects hopefully any furthur dam building can be prevented.    

References:

J. Bidgood, Hopes for a Fish Revival as a Dam is Demolished (25 Jul 13)

K. Miller, Two years after dam’s removal, Penobscot River flourishes (27 Sep 15)

M. Carpenter, Dam Removal to Help Restore Spawning Grounds (11 Jun 12)

M. Tercek, Historic Dam Removal to Benefit Nature and People (11 Jun 12)

University of Maine, After more than a century, endangered shortnose sturgeon find historic habitat post dam removal (17 Nov 15)

Earth’s Application to Renewable and Green Energy

In the midst of obvious climate change; up-rise in seismic activity, global population reaching unmanageable numbers, and mass animal extinction, it is pretty evident that our world is changing. As humans we have either adapted or died. One of the more pressing issues concerning these matters is that of energy. For hundreds of years humans have used nonrenewable energy in the form of burning organic carbon. Like the earth, we are approaching a time of change in the ways we harvest energy. Ways that are less damaging to the environment and more conservative in production.

A remedy to the Earth’s migraines can be biological organisms from the Earth itself. Several viable options as a source of renewable energy include algal harvestations in the production of biofuel, lignocellulose in the production of second generation biofuels, bioelectrochemical systems (BES) which can convert organic waste into energy with microbial fuel cells (MFCs) or microbial electrolysis cells (MECs), and harnessing energy from the natural constant motion of oceanic currents. All of these options as well as numerous others have great potential to positively impact our world.

Unfortunately with the continued drop of oil costs, it is difficult for countries with the technologies to look into these possible solutions to allocate funds for that purpose.  Soon we will run out of fossil fuels and need to adapt and rely on more ecofriendly renewable resources or die from a lack of energy to sustain our comfortable lifestyles.

Microalgae have been shown to be converted directly to useable energy in the form of biofuel. Because of their many advantages as a sustainable feed stock for biodiesel production and their lack of competition with food crops, microalgae are a potential source to produce third generation biodiesel (Ahmad, 2011). They are very promising as a sustainable contribution toward reducing climate change; however their production needs more research to identify the most suitable microalgae species and improve their oil yield, more specifically on the biosynthesis of algal lipids, triglycerides, and fatty acids. Furthermore recent studies have found that microorganisms in the production of biofuel show a better yield on solid state fermentation of lignocellulosic biomass using the enzyme cellulose and celluloytic microorganisms to depolymerize cellulose into fermentable sugars (Sudhanshu, 2015).

Figure 1.1 Cycle of Algal Energy

 

BESs are naturally occurring systems within MFCs and MECs with the capability to convert chemical energy from organic waste in the form of wastewater and lignocellulosic biomass into useable electricity. Although on a micro scale, in large quantities useable energy can be harvested. Alluring benefits of BESs include operating in mild conditions, no need for precious metal catalysts, and the ability to use a wide range of organic substrate (Pant, 2011). Research is still needed to achieve useful production of energy but from current data wastewater treatment seems to be the most realistic approach (Wang, 2015). It would not only assist in the purification of the water but the production of useable energy as well. 

Figure 1.2 Model of Microbial Fuel Cells

The oceans hold vast amounts of potential energy in the form of their constant movement of waves and tides. Prospective models of implemented harnessing techniques have already been constructed as well as forecasted energy potentials for many regions of the world (Uihlein, 2015). Unfortunately issues such as conflict with competing use of the marine environment such as fishing, shipping, offshore wind, habitat protection, and grid connection has limited the progress of these technologies. The next step in the realization of these technologies is research into the economic and social impacts of oceanic energy. Broad coast analysis’ including grid integration, energy security, and predictions of future costs in maintenance and operation are still necessary for any forward progress. The ocean energy industry has made significant progress in recent years but is still at very early stage with some advanced prototypes that are currently being tested.

Figure 1.3 Wave Turbines

The burning of fossil fuels have caused evident damage to our earth in the forms of global warming, habitat depletion, and lowered air quality. Perhaps some of this damage can be mended and possibly reversed with natural energy sources already present on Earth such that don't emit harmful gasses or contaminants.

Where’s the Buzz? Reason for Honeybees’ Population Decline

The honeybee, Apis mellifera, is responsible for the pollination of flowering plants that make up roughly one third of the human diet (1).  In total, the honeybee makes $200 billion worth of food globally (2).  As important as these insects are, the honeybee populations are slowly dying off.  However, there is not one clear cut answer as to what is causing the bee decline but there is a lot of buzz surrounding the problem.  The first suspect is lack of flowers due to urbanization and destruction of natural habitat (1).  Bees are able to adapt by searching for other types of flowers, but it can also lead them to gravitate toward flowers with pesticides or diseases (1). In a similar vein, climate change is also a contributor to the death of bees preferred flowers and disease caused by parasites because warmer temperatures are allowing them to thrive (1). 

A varroa mite attached to the back of the honeybee

Source:  https://beecare.bayer.com/bilder/upload/ 1

The varroa mite, a parasitic mite, is an increasing problem for the bees (3). The mite attaches itself to the adult bee and feeds on the host’s blood, thus making the host weak and susceptible to disease (3).  Bee keepers turned to a low dose of pesticides to help the fight against the mites, but bee keepers risk killing the bee.  Extensive research has been performed to breed queen bees with a grooming behavior in hopes the bees will be able to remove the mites themselves (3).  However, the challenge remains in keeping the self-grooming from mating with normal bees and reversing the progress made (3). Although progress is being made to help the bees continue the fight against the varroa mite, it still remains a huge problem for  beekeepers and hives alike.

The final suspect is a specific type of pesticides called the neonicotinoids.  These pesticides are known to linger in the environment and grow with the plant that it coats.  In doing so, bees carry the nectar laced with the neonicotinoids back to the hive.  The neonicotinoids have sickened both the hive and the queen bee which exert serious detrimental effects (4).  The queen bee is responsible for reproduction in the hive but neonicotinoids have caused queens to produce less offspring and are overall weaker than a normal queen, according to a recent research article published by Nature (4).  Due to the effects of neonicotinoids, two years ago, European Union banned the use of these pesticides to curb the declining bee population (5).  Recent studies in the European Union have suggested neonicotinoids are not the sole cause of the decreasing bee population because the hive compensates for the loss by producing more offspring (5).  

A farmer sprays the crops with a pesticide

Source: http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/Pictures/web/ 1

In addition, the United States’ EPA also found inconclusive research that neonicotinoids are the primary reason due to some hives being greatly affected but did not affect other hives (2).In the United States, neonicotinoid use is not banned, despite public outcry (1). The European Union as of 2015 lifted their ban on the pesticide for an emergency application on oilseed rape crops but still regulated by the EU commission (5).  Although both the United States and European Union want to help the bee population, inconclusive evidence and pressure from the agricultural industry are permitting the use of the pesticide.

    With several different reasons being brought to the table, it is tremendously difficult to pin down a sole reason for the decline.  Issues such as climate change and loss of habitat are on-going problems which both people and bees are combating against.  Parasites are another reason that are killing the honeybees.  Pesticides pose a significant problem because its use leads to weaker queens and hive.  Despite this, research is inconclusive in whether or not the neonicotinoid use is the cause. Both policy makers and researchers around the globe are fervently working together to save the bees by banning pesticides and carefully breeding stronger queens.  After all, the symbiotic relationship with the bees is valuable and deserves to be protected.