Bacteria: single-celled, prokaryotic organisms that reproduce by cell division and usually have rigid cell walls
Carbon Dioxide: a type of gas that helps plant to photosynthesis
Corals: hard, variously colored, calcareous skeleton secreted by certain marine polyps
Coral Bleaching: the release of the symbiotic colored algae normally living within coral animals, which occurs when coral animals are stressed
Ecosystem: systems which include both living and non-living substances interacting to produce an exchange of materials between the living and the non living
Euthrophication: the slow aging process during which a lake, estuary, or bay evolves into a bog or marsh and eventually disappears
Fungus: a member of a class of relatively primitive vegetable organisms
Global Warming: an overall increase in world temperatures which may be caused by additional heat being trapped by greenhouse gases
Oxygen: a type of gas needed for life processes to take place
Polyp: a growth or tumor, usually benign, on an internal surface such as the uterine wall
Zooplankton: the aggregate of animal or animal-like organisms in plankton, as protozoans
Zoosanthellae: unicellular yellow-brown (dinoflagellate) algae which live symbiotically in the gastrodermis of reef-building coral
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Studies of Coral Reefs
Oh No! Studies has shown devastating losses to Florida's coral reefs during past year, the cause of this is still unclear, but scientists say that it is because of the diseases in the coral reefs. They found that the incidence of the disease has increased by 276 percent from 1996 to 1997.(That's so much!)To make it worse, the number of coral species with diseases has increased 211 percent in the same time period. If we carry on polluting the Earth, worse things will happen and corals may be EXTINCT. ( more information is found in http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1997/11/971114070902.htm)
Studies also show that the crown of thorns starfish and sediment runoff pale compared to the looming threats of warmer and more acidic seas.
Scott Dooney from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts explains how the ocean removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The water becomes more acidic and this harms marine species. The major negative impact will be organisms which build shells, such as lobsters, clams, scallops, oysters and crabs. Half the value of commercial fish stocks will be affected by increased acidity. These species could drop in abundance by 50% by the middle of the century.
Nancy Knowlton says we're facing an environmental catastrophe in coral reefs. Recent bleaching events have lead to major and widespread death of coral. (more information is found in http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2008/2210916.htm)
STOP DAMAGING THE CORAL REEFS UNNECESSARILY, WE CAN PLAY A PART BY NOT POLLUTING THE EARTH.
Studies also show that the crown of thorns starfish and sediment runoff pale compared to the looming threats of warmer and more acidic seas.
Scott Dooney from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts explains how the ocean removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The water becomes more acidic and this harms marine species. The major negative impact will be organisms which build shells, such as lobsters, clams, scallops, oysters and crabs. Half the value of commercial fish stocks will be affected by increased acidity. These species could drop in abundance by 50% by the middle of the century.
Nancy Knowlton says we're facing an environmental catastrophe in coral reefs. Recent bleaching events have lead to major and widespread death of coral. (more information is found in http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2008/2210916.htm)
STOP DAMAGING THE CORAL REEFS UNNECESSARILY, WE CAN PLAY A PART BY NOT POLLUTING THE EARTH.
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