For the past twelve years, researchers across the coasts of australia and indonesia have been baffled by the vanishing sea bird populations. Huge masses of birds disappearing overnight and the possibility of extinction for some were a huge concern, and citizen scientists set to work to try and find the answer to this decline. Eventually, according to the University of Queensland, the reason behind massive avian population loss is the destruction of crucial mudflats in North-East Asia. 0The overall first impression I have of this is sadness, as these birds are incredibly beautiful creatures. Before their massive population decline, they populated large portions of Australia’s shores, and now they are left barren. The cause of these birds disappearing is directly correlated to the destruction of mudflats, which is a critical stopping point for their migrations. Without this stop for food and rest, many birds will die of exhaustion or starvation before they ever even reach the coasts of Australia. This can destroy the ecosystems as the loss of some many species of bird could remove several important links in the local food chains. This relates to class as the importance of a stable and never changing food chain is what keeps entire ecosystems from degrading or falling out of control, which Australia's coastline is possibly experiencing. The main problem and solution to this bird extinction in China, and its use of the mudflats as both dumping grounds for sewage and trash, as well as construction area. As long as China continues to destroy these precious ecosystems, the birds will still be at risk of complete destruction. This research is very important for the people of both China and the islands of the southern pacific, as their wildlife must be an utmost importance if they want their countries ecosystem to survive. I believe that the public of both nations, as well as the nation's allies should be made aware, if not already, as a way to pressure their governments into reconsidering their actions. Article: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170413095043.htm
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More often than not, we have heard news about the issues of dying coral around the globe. However, with new studies coming out every single day proving that our precious marine ecosystems are slowly dying out, it is becoming more and more clear we are running out of time. According to the European Geosciences Union, or EGU, coral reefs in Florida, the Caribbean and Hawaii have all been found to be suffering from seafloor erosion. It has been directly correlated that the more the sea floor erodes, the more these sensitive and precious coral reefs are left exposed to storms and further erosion. Now the overall significance of this finding may be lost on some as it appears that only a little sand lost means nothing. In reality, however, it is a dangerous cycle of erosion. The longer this process goes on, the more and more sand will be removed from the sea floor. Without the protection of the sand to keep the coral reefs safe, storms and large waves will rapidly break down and destroy this gentle ecosystem. When the coral reef slowly starts to die, this will lead to further erosion and eventually the collapse of any remaining marine life. I feel very sad knowing that this is happening and it is not a main concern for people. As an islander myself, I always loved the reefs for their beauty and amazing marine life. So the idea that these reefs are dying makes me wish that someone cared. I feel that this is one of the most important findings in marine science ever, as it can be the crossroads between us caring and saving our marine sanctuaries, or losing them forever. This coral reef systems falls back to our classes on coral itself, as well as how it functions in the ecosystem, and it has made me more aware of the fragile nature of them. This problem is incredibly important as a whole and should be spread to the general public as much as possible. Without the backing of the people, we may never be able to save the most beautiful reefs the world has to offer. So I think that this research should be continued into the correlation of erosion, and should be scaled up to worldwide studies so that we can have a comprehensive understanding of our effects on the marine world. Article: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170420093717.htm Nature has an incredible ability to heal itself, sometimes from what us humans thought was irreversible damage. There is no greater example than the wetlands across the earth, and their incredible ability to store unimaginable amounts of Carbon Dioxide we produce, inside their marshes. According to an article on Science Daily, scientists have recently proven that these marine ecosystems not only serves as a carbon dioxide storage reservoir naturally in nature, but are one of the largest naturally formed “blue carbon” areas in the entire worldwide ecosystem. In context, the article said, “Coastal wetlands outperformed other marine systems in just about every measure. For example, the researchers estimated that mangrove forests alone capture and store as much as 34 million metric tons of carbon annually, which is roughly equivalent to the carbon emitted by 26 million passenger cars in a year.” That is an astronomically giant number of metric tons, and according to CWPA, or Coastal Wetlands Protection Agency, is one of the critical reasons our planet's ability to sustain life is still possible. This thoroughly interests me as not only could this be the solution to our worldwide carbon dioxide overload, but it could be the solution to millions of other problems involving our ecosystems here in florida. If we are capable of harnessing the power of wetlands to help us control our release of carbon dioxide, the footprint we leave over the next one-hundred years could be dramatically less than if we openly vented it into the atmosphere. Since we have been learning about the effects of carbon dioxide on our planet, specifically the greenhouse effect, this study’s findings are incredibly relative to the work we have been doing in class. Since our problem with carbon dioxide in both our water and in our air is so far spread, the use of wetlands to help absorb and store the excess we produce could be critical to sustaining our species presence on this planet. This research is integral to our species future, and the public should be informed not only of the facts that this research has stated, but also the ramifications of allowing this to be tested and practiced right in people’s own backyards. Article: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170201092705.htm According to an article written on ScienceDaily, China has kept up with its unmanaged fishing for over twenty years. China is the world's largest seafood producer and exporter, and has been able to keep that title even through intense, unregulated fishing. Fishing in over four separate oceans, and catching over twenty different types of fish has allowed China’s fish sales to soar to a net worth of approximately US $11.5 billion dollars. The question that remains, however, is although China is overfishing their areas more than any other sovereign nation on our planet, they have been capable of keeping up this pace for over twenty-years. Chinese reports are few, and information is very rare about fishing practices in China, but many scientists speculate that either they are exaggerating their catch totals, or they are using predatory fish hunting so that they can increase their overall prey fish catches.
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