Where Did The Reef Go?
One of the major issues people have when dealing with the realness of environmental impacts or climate change is lack of direct visual or tactile effects. It can be very hard to imagine how a few degrees of warmth might impact you, how deforestation relates to your local community, how pollution may endanger a species, or how ice melting in the poles is even relevant to communities in which we live. It can often be nearly impossible to provide our senses with supporting evidence of these impacts we read and hear about. So you want some real in your face visuals – take a vacation.
No, I am not suggesting that you don twelve layers of clothes and head up to the arctic circle to look at changes in sea ice, because in the end you might still walk away going, ‘that ice is now water, so what’. While the event may have provided you with confirmation of a physical process, the lack of context or meaning would still leave you without a relevant ‘impact’ sensation. So don’t worry, no need to rush off to the colder climates, you can always get a status of sea ice behavior if you are so inclined #here# (and it is actually likely to have more meaning than direct contact would have had anyway).
Instead, get your bathing suit, some sunscreen, and a couple of casual outfits and head to the beach. Now I will throw in the slight caveat that you really need to go somewhere that has some coral reef that you can either snorkel or scuba to. Even better, this likely means a vacation to a nice Caribbean island or some similar tropical destination. Recently I was able to do just this when I took a brief break and headed to Grand Cayman. This island is known for its exceptional snorkel/scuba sites, so as you can imagine I was looking forward to some neat underwater scenery. The place I was staying even claimed to have reefs just a short swim from shore.
Photo by J. Kenyon
Snorkel gear on, in the water, looking around, lots of formations, but everything looked white, was it my mask? Checked, nope indeed with a very few exceptions lots of white, very few fish, what was going on? It turns out that this section of reef had experienced a ‘bleaching’. During the course of the next few days I did get a chance to see some thriving sections of reef, but I was amazed again and again by all the reef that seemed dead. The potentially good news is that reefs can recover from bleaching to some degree if the main cause was water temperature changes and that they subside and were not too drastic. In talking to a local resident with a marine biology background I got a bit of the optimist mixed in with the science, as I am sure they want to make sure tourists keep coming to Grand Cayman. However, in investigating this topic after my trip it became clear, that sometimes does not mean always and that coral reefs are an excellent example of resilient yet delicate.
To the right I show a case of Coral Reef Bleaching with a before and after example. There are multiple items that contribute to bleaching, but temperature increases appear to be the primary culprit. This can of course be caused by a hot summer, but also through generally increasing sea temperatures. It appears these events are becoming more common and a major bleaching event in 1998 killed an estimated 16% of the world’s coral reef. This is an example of an major ecosystem that thrives in a range, but when conditions exit that range the results can be severe. Of course this begs the question – ‘Is this a tipping point example?’ – is it too late, what will it take to avoid systematic coral reef loss, is it even possible to avoid, can mother nature continually bounce back? All these things raced through my mind as I left Grand Cayman, and why I felt it was important to share with readers here.
This case was very drastic for me as I have had the pleasure of seeing vibrant and active coral reef before. For anyone who has ever seen a living reef, a bleached reef will be a startling reminder of how fragile ecosystems are. However, even if you have never seen a coral reef first hand, it is likely that through TV or a visit to an aquarium you have. My guess is even for you this would be a stunning example. Now, I am not suggesting you plan a vacation seeking an ecosystem under stress or worse, but it is through these unexpected situations that we are often most influenced and moved. So don’t avoid them when they are right in front you, use them as an excellent learning opportunity, and a call to care and hopefully do something about it.
Here are a few sources of additionally reading about this topic:
Next time we will look at uncertainty in weather forecasts, how you translate it and deal with it. This will be an initial post in a series of how these uncertainties influence forecasts and what decisions you can make even when everything is not clear. Until then, learn something new and share it, that is how we all grow!