The Importance Of Coral Reefs

Almost three-fourths of the Earth is covered by water, and oceans contain ninety-seven percent of this water; ecosystems of coral reefs and marine life live in these massive oceans. The ocean is a region used for recreation, tourism, and transportation; it has also been used as a source of food and energy. The ocean helps regulate climate, organizes weather patterns, and absorbs twenty-five percent of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which includes what humans respire. Seventy percent of the air breathed by humans is produced by underwater life. A bacte-ria, Prochlorococcus, generates twenty percent of the oxygen in the atmosphere by photosynthe-sis. “Five hundred million people depend on coral reefs in some way” (Walsh 43). Coral reefs

Dr. Sylvia Earle writes in her article “The Sweet Spot in Time,” that only fifty percent of the coral reefs currently remain from those observed in 1950. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-tion, dead zones are areas in the ocean with reduced levels of oxygen; consequently, these zones do not contain life because the creatures in it suffocate. In 1975, there was only one observed dead zone; currently, there are over five hundred dead zones. Seventy-five percent of the world’s coral reefs are threatened, according to Brian Walsh in his article “Ocean View.” The Caribbe-an has lost eighty percent of its coral reefs in the past 50 years. “Coral cover dropped from 80% in 1971 to 13% in 1999” (Walsh 43). Ninety percent of wild fish have disappeared since 1950. During the period of time after the 1950’s, the growing use of cars burned more fos-sil fuels into the atmosphere, which affects the pH balance, or acidity, of the ocean. In 1958, ma-rine pollution was first addressed as a problem at the First Conference on the Law of the Sea with the United Nations, as written by Justin P. Leous and Neal B. Parry in their article “Who is Responsible for Marine Debris? The International Politics of Cleaning Our Oceans.” Overfishing became a problem beginning in the 1950’s, because of the rising demand of seafood. Although, the trend in marine ecosystems has been declining over the past six decades, the

Traces of human presence can be seen anywhere in the ocean; under the water’s surface, a tire lodged in the center of a coral reef of a sea creature entangled in a plastic bag can be found. These are examples of “permanent evidence of our carelessness” (Earle 66). The sources of this waste can be land based, coming from sewer overflows, litter, and illegal dumping; additionally, the waste can originate from the sea from cruises dumping their wastes. The waste is distributed about the globe by the natural circulation, or gyre, of the ocean; “14 billions pounds of garbage accumulates annually in the oceans and travels across the globe” (Leous and Parry 257). During his interview with Nell Greenberg, Captain Charles Moore, a researcher who discovered the Pa-cific garbage patch, shares the role of plastic and trash in the cycle of the food chain. Plastic is a hydrophobic material that attracts toxins such as oil, and plastic contains the chemical polychlo-rinated biphenyl. Plastic breaks up into pieces of different sizes; it can appear to be food to sea creatures as microscopic as plankton to the largest cetaceans such as whales. When the sea crea-tures eat the plastic, they feel full and stop eating, which leads to malnutrition and eventually death. The sea creature that originally