It gets especially worse during an El Nino year. In 1990 during the El Nino 65% of the coral reef in the Persian Gulf was destroyed. There are many local threats of a coral reef, one of them being fishing. A huge percentage of the world’s population relies on coral reefs for food and income. Local residents fish on the reefs as their livelihood depends on it.
Global warming will only cause an increase in these issues along with additional problems that could eventually end this civilization, if we don’t work hard on improving our efforts on managing all the different types of pollution and waste that contributes to this major concern. 2. Water Issues, was an extremely important area of local environmental concern this summer. 70% of our planet’s surface is water, but most of that is salt water. Freshwater though essential to life, is one of the rarest and most endangered resources on our progressively fragile planet.
Most of the impact of this was experienced by the marine species. Eight U.S. national parks were threatened and more than 400 species that live in the Gulf islands were at risk, including the endangered Kemp's Ridley turtle. The clean up of this travesty cost the government and companies billions to clear. As a result of the spill deep sea drilling in the Gulf was suspended until new safety measures had been put in place, costing governments and companies further millions, whilst the price of oil continued to rise. A spill in other deep sea areas such as the Arctic could accelerate damage in a very sensitive environment, which is already dangerously close to its
Dr Euan Ritchie stated “When sharks were culled in Hawaii there was no long-term benefit because sharks attacks occurred immediately after”. Why then, waste billions of taxpayers’ money on a solution that has previously shown it does not work? In South Africa, again, according to statistics from the KwaZulu-Natal Shark Board, “less than 18 per cent of marine life caught on drum lines in South Africa in the 2011 to 2012 financial year have been great white or tiger sharks” with animals mentioned in the above paragraph contributing to the other 78%. A large scale cull would be highly redundant then as Australia would be no different from Hawaii and South Africa. In New South Wales and Queensland “there have been severe shark attacks on beaches that are protected by nets”, highlighting how wrongly this issue is being
Unfortunately this is what happened on March 24, 1989 in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Years ago Exxon Mobile Corporation was the world’s biggest oil company, carrying crude oil to places all over the world and today it is just another company who failure to handle the situation with honor and disastrous decisions ended in millions and millions of dead animals and fishermen. This paper will express and analyze The Exxon Valdez oil spill as well the damages it caused to the coastal environment along southern Alaska’s shore, issues in the case, court decision, and the significance of the oil spill. Exxon Valdez: Who? Bills?
Beyond the overhunting, there are many other threats to the sea otter population. Other threats are environmental risks, such as oil spills. The Exxon Valdez oil spill in California was feared that it would kill one third of the sea otters. Sea otters have a higher mortality rate in California than other areas of their habitat. Scientists were studying this correlation and discovered some of the reasons for this higher mortality rate.
“Easter Island's mysteries have spawned volumes of speculation for more than two and a half centuries, and its amazing to think that such a place could have been destroyed so easily” ( Diamond 360). Though after hundreds of years of deforestation, and depletion of all vegetation, the island gave in. Settlers had used up all of the islands resources and time was limited. After everything was used up, frustration occurred and people started fighting each other. Starvation and sickness also played a significant role at this point.
These emissions can become acid rain and if it can damage a tree, it can and does damage coral. According to the Coral Reef Alliance; the world’s oceans have had “approximately 525 billion tons of carbon dioxide” dumped by human activity within their waters. [ (Coral Reef Alliance, 2012) ]. The site also goes on to state that the destruction of Mangroves,(which have been harvested for lumber) and the loss filtering saltwater swamps due to farming have caused quite a bit of stress on coral reefs. Then there are the odd ways we humans go about “enjoying the ocean”.
Hedges and Sacco report that over five hundred mountaintops have been blown up in West Virginia, while the underlying carbons seems are gouged away by huge machines that only require a few workers. The people of West Virginia have poor lifestyles while they suffer the consequences of the coal mining: cancer. The resources of this land are exploited, as well as the people, which will eventually lead to their extinction. Sacco and Hedges focus on coal mining’s economic, social and environmental effects. They give an example of the Easter Island and the abundance of freshwater and woods, “seafood was plentiful” (150).
Areas around the world known as “Dead Zones” are being reported as “areas so low in oxygen that fish and other sea life cannot survive (Oceans Where Fish Choke. November 30, 2010).” These areas are accosted with highly populated coastal areas that are being overfished and have rich nutrient run off coming from land causing massive decline in phytoplankton. Biological Oceanographers worldwide study dead fish that continue to surface on shore by searching for a solution to the problem. Many believe the zones are created due to climate change; however, it is more logical that the constant drain off of the high nutrients is feeding the dilemma. Low oxygen levels increase stress on fish.