Biology D Block Even Emma Lewis
Current Event- Ms. Davies 10/30/13
Lippsett, Lonny. "A Quest For Resilient Reefs." Whoi.edu. Oceanus Magazine, 4 Oct. 2013. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. <http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/feature/a-quest-for-resilient-reefs>.
This article stresses the threat that the ocean’s changing chemistry poses for coral reefs. It focuses on one specific scientist, Anne Cohen, and her thoughts on what should be done about this threat. However, first, the article goes into great detail about where coral reefs come from and their interaction with the ocean. Coral reefs come from a small organism called a coral polyp. They look very similar to a sea anemone, and are actually related to them. Thousands of these coral polyps perform one job, and its products make up the coral reef. This job is to take calcium ions and carbonate ions from the seawater, and combine these ions to make a mineral called calcium carbonate. There are different forms of calcium carbonate, coral polyps making a unique form called aragonite. Since there are thousands of them which perform the task rapidly, the aragonite crystals are combined to make massive, diverse and colorful structures. Normally, corals build the reefs at about 240 micromoles per kilogram of water. Scientists question how the coral polyps have the ability to make such structures, since each coral reef is unique.
Consequently, the change which has started to occur in the ocean is a drop in carbonate ions. Before, when there was a stable level or carbonate ions, corals had the ability to adapt to any slight changes when building the reefs. However, the article noted that since the Industrial Revolution, the increased burning of fossil fuels has sent more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This gas is then diffused into ocean water, causing the water to be more acidic. This is because it reacts with the hydrogen ions, which lowers the pH in water. This ultimately causes a significant drop in carbonate ions, which is only continuing to decrease as we burn more fossil fuels. Next, the article explains why a drop in these ions is so important to the coral reefs. Its explanation was that there aren’t enough ions for the corals to build and therefore the aragonite crystals change shape and mutate. By this occurring, the reef fishes are at a higher risk of being a prey and the reef at a higher risk of being smothered by algae. On the contrary, there have been accounts of coral reefs that actually thrive in acidic conditions. Among them are the reef communities in the Palauan Rock Islands, which are still developing the unique coral structures, despite the acidic levels. Scientists have no idea how these coral reefs are going about this, but multiple tests are underway to discover the inner workings of the coral polyps.
This article, although related to marine life, has a significant impact on myself and society. The coral reefs are a major tourist attraction; millions of people travel each year to scuba dive or snorkel to experience the greatness of these reefs. Although they make up only one percent of the ocean seafloor, they are home to about 9 million species. Among these species are coral fish, which represent 25 percent of the total fish that are consumed by humans. Thus, the depletion of these coral reefs would considerably hurt the human world, not just the maritime world. This is one of the reasons why I chose this article. It was interesting to me how tiny, small organisms could generate these enormous reefs and how these enormous reefs can even affect humans. The ties between the marine and human world are closer than I expected. Plus, it surprised me how the article mentioned that conservation organizations and the government are banding together in efforts to protect the coral reefs. This is yet another example of how the marine and human worlds are connected.
The article was written in a factual tone and prompted the body of the article by posing questions. This gave the reader a very clear understanding of what the article was discussing; especially the cause and effect of the oceans dropping carbonate ionic levels. However, the article was almost too factual, conferring facts about science that an average reader would be confused by. For example, the article explained how aragonite crystals were made by the coral polyps and how they mutate when the carbonate ion levels drop. However, most readers do not know how the crystals form or why the crystals mutate. In addition, the article could have been shortened to avoid redundancy. In the beginning, the article mentioned the human benefits of coral reefs. Then, the article mentions the ultimate goal to preserve the coral reefs. Since both are discussing the human-side of the issue, they should have been combined to give the reader a better understanding of the article. Nevertheless, the article did a good job of explaining the cause and how effort must be made to preserve these magnificent coral reefs.
Current Event- Ms. Davies 10/30/13
Lippsett, Lonny. "A Quest For Resilient Reefs." Whoi.edu. Oceanus Magazine, 4 Oct. 2013. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. <http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/feature/a-quest-for-resilient-reefs>.
This article stresses the threat that the ocean’s changing chemistry poses for coral reefs. It focuses on one specific scientist, Anne Cohen, and her thoughts on what should be done about this threat. However, first, the article goes into great detail about where coral reefs come from and their interaction with the ocean. Coral reefs come from a small organism called a coral polyp. They look very similar to a sea anemone, and are actually related to them. Thousands of these coral polyps perform one job, and its products make up the coral reef. This job is to take calcium ions and carbonate ions from the seawater, and combine these ions to make a mineral called calcium carbonate. There are different forms of calcium carbonate, coral polyps making a unique form called aragonite. Since there are thousands of them which perform the task rapidly, the aragonite crystals are combined to make massive, diverse and colorful structures. Normally, corals build the reefs at about 240 micromoles per kilogram of water. Scientists question how the coral polyps have the ability to make such structures, since each coral reef is unique.
Consequently, the change which has started to occur in the ocean is a drop in carbonate ions. Before, when there was a stable level or carbonate ions, corals had the ability to adapt to any slight changes when building the reefs. However, the article noted that since the Industrial Revolution, the increased burning of fossil fuels has sent more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This gas is then diffused into ocean water, causing the water to be more acidic. This is because it reacts with the hydrogen ions, which lowers the pH in water. This ultimately causes a significant drop in carbonate ions, which is only continuing to decrease as we burn more fossil fuels. Next, the article explains why a drop in these ions is so important to the coral reefs. Its explanation was that there aren’t enough ions for the corals to build and therefore the aragonite crystals change shape and mutate. By this occurring, the reef fishes are at a higher risk of being a prey and the reef at a higher risk of being smothered by algae. On the contrary, there have been accounts of coral reefs that actually thrive in acidic conditions. Among them are the reef communities in the Palauan Rock Islands, which are still developing the unique coral structures, despite the acidic levels. Scientists have no idea how these coral reefs are going about this, but multiple tests are underway to discover the inner workings of the coral polyps.
This article, although related to marine life, has a significant impact on myself and society. The coral reefs are a major tourist attraction; millions of people travel each year to scuba dive or snorkel to experience the greatness of these reefs. Although they make up only one percent of the ocean seafloor, they are home to about 9 million species. Among these species are coral fish, which represent 25 percent of the total fish that are consumed by humans. Thus, the depletion of these coral reefs would considerably hurt the human world, not just the maritime world. This is one of the reasons why I chose this article. It was interesting to me how tiny, small organisms could generate these enormous reefs and how these enormous reefs can even affect humans. The ties between the marine and human world are closer than I expected. Plus, it surprised me how the article mentioned that conservation organizations and the government are banding together in efforts to protect the coral reefs. This is yet another example of how the marine and human worlds are connected.
The article was written in a factual tone and prompted the body of the article by posing questions. This gave the reader a very clear understanding of what the article was discussing; especially the cause and effect of the oceans dropping carbonate ionic levels. However, the article was almost too factual, conferring facts about science that an average reader would be confused by. For example, the article explained how aragonite crystals were made by the coral polyps and how they mutate when the carbonate ion levels drop. However, most readers do not know how the crystals form or why the crystals mutate. In addition, the article could have been shortened to avoid redundancy. In the beginning, the article mentioned the human benefits of coral reefs. Then, the article mentions the ultimate goal to preserve the coral reefs. Since both are discussing the human-side of the issue, they should have been combined to give the reader a better understanding of the article. Nevertheless, the article did a good job of explaining the cause and how effort must be made to preserve these magnificent coral reefs.
Emma, you wrote a great current event report which was both well-organized and well-written. First off, I really appreciated how you gave the biological background of coral reefs, since this a biology current event, along with the cause and effect burning fossil fuels will have on these structures. I also think that the fact that you included a counter argument to the idea that a decrease in carbonate ions will negatively lead to the change in shape and mutation of the coral roofs made your argument seem even more credible, since it was expressing both sides of the issue. Finally, your relevance paragraph was fantastic, because not only did you include the ramifications on both the maritime and human population if the carbonate ion level in the sea drops, but you also included why this idea fascinated you and why you chose to investigate it. Your current event report taught me many things about coral reefs, as well. For example, I learned that the mutation of coral reefs due to the acidity of the ocean could have a huge impact on people, because we receive 25% of our consumed fish from the coral fish species. I also learned that coral reefs play a huge role in the ocean, because they are home to about 9 million species, and the mutation of these habitats could therefore disrupt the lives of these species. If you could improve one thing, the only thing I might suggest would be to include the specific thoughts of Anne Cohen more throughout the article, since she was the only specific scientist mentioned in your report. Overall, you did a phenomenal job at showing the effects on both the maritime and human world of the decrease in carbonate ions and mutation of coral reefs.
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