Ben Yanowith

4/8/2024

Image from NOAA website, 2019

Coral reefs are endangered by existential threats. They face severe threats such as ocean acidification and climate change. It is critical that these threats are mitigated. Coral reefs are extremely important to marine and coastal life– they serve as a habitat for marine organisms, and safeguard coastal environments from storms. If they are not protected, society will endure devastating consequences. When corals and other organisms living on the reef are broken down, beaches are formed, serving as a critical habitat for various species, some of them endangered, such as sea turtles and monk seals. For humans, Coral reefs are an important source of food and jobs (from the tourism industry). 

Along with increased endangerment to reefs, there has been increasing public and private investment around the world into addressing this critical issue. In Fiscal year 2023, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) invested $23 million in coral reef restoration efforts. In 2022, United States Agency For International Development (USAID) pledged $15 million to an initiative on coral reef restoration in the Egyptian Red Sea. In 2018, the Australian government announced a six year $443 million partnership with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation to improve the health of the Great Barrier Reef.  In 2022, the foundation pledged another $1 billion over the next nine years. In October of 2023, at an International Coral Reef Initiative forum (ICRI), over 40 nations pledged to raise a total of $12 billion to protect coral reefs. Most importantly, the Global Fund for Coral Reefs has been established, which is a global alliance of nations, investment institutions, and nonprofits. They have commited to spending over $650 million on the issue over the next 10 years.  

Thanks to these investments and innovation, there is certainly reason for optimism. Dubai Reefs is a large project which has the goal of protecting marine and coastal environments in Dubai. The project has plans to create a 200 square kilometer “diverse artificial reef.”  It is believed that this will be a home to over 1 billion corals and 100 million mangrove trees. Hopefully, it will be a catalyst of the transition to the green economy in Dubai, where they hope to create 30,000 jobs.  The project will also sponsor “marine ecotourism,” which will be done with 100% green energy. 

Archireef, a nature tech company, also aims to restore marine ecosystems. Their product “Reef Tiles,” which are 3D printed from terracotta clay, has been a game changer. It has a “survivorship rate of 95” and traditional methods. Their work, seemingly the most promising technology yet, has been recognized globally through the World Economic Forum, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the Geneva inventions.

While these innovations and efforts have been helpful, they are not nearly sufficient. Coral reefs are still under immense stress.  In 2022, according to the government of Australia, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia had its “fourth mass bleaching event” in seven years due to overheating.  The cause of overheating of coral reefs is climate change.  Therefore, mitigating climate change is by far the most important action.  And, according to the EIA, while these steps are critical, much more needs to be done to protect coral reefs.

I have always been worried about the existential threat of climate change– I have read the news and seen things seemingly getting worse and worse.. In January I decided to get more involved. I did an internship with 6th Grain (an agribusiness firm) where I researched coral reefs and their vital importance to the world. I spent eight hours a day for two weeks thinking deeply about the deep. I am concerned that if the degradation of coral reefs is not mitigated, and ideally reversed, there will be grim consequences for the world. Unfortunately, politicians have not acted with nearly sufficient urgency in addressing climate change, and need to do so immediately.

Governments and people need to have more urgency in addressing this issue. Governments around the world need to pass laws that ban fishing on shores– for reefs to be healthy, fish need to remove excess algae from the reef as it can kill coral. They should also continue to invest in the green economy/ transition from fossil fuels, and ban deforestation. Governments also need to invest in companies that have environmentally friendly technology, such as solar energy as an alternative to fossil fuels, which are by far the largest contributor to carbon dioxide emissions.

According to oceanographer Bruce Rinkevich, there are two main approaches that he recommends, the first being the  “direct transplantation of coral material,” which has some negative impacts such as a negative effect on donor reefs and transplanted coral colonies. The second one  is the gardening concept which has been pretty effective. It has two steps: “ rearing stocks of small coral fragments in specially designed mid-water floating nurseries, and upon reaching suitable sizes, applying the second step, the transplantation of nursery-farmed coral colonies onto denuded reef areas.”

Coral reefs are incredibly important to the environment and global economy. While there has been important progress in addressing the issue and shocking technological innovations, there still needs to be much more done in order to mitigate, and ideally alleviate the issue. If the world continues to neglect coral reefs, the consequences will be dire.