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Many cities including Key West, FL depend on tourism for income. People travel to Key West for a number of reasons, but a majority of people come for the crystal clear water and the coral reefs. This type of tourism is referred to as eco-tourism.
Unfortunately for Key West, a lot of the coral reefs have fallen victim to coral bleaching. According to the University of the Virgin Islands, coral bleaching is the whitening of coral colonies due to the loss of zooxanthellae from the tissues of polyps. Zooxanthellae are unicellular algae that are yellow-brownish and live symbiotically with coral reefs. The nutrients that the zooxanthellae provide make it possible for coral reefs to reproduce, at a very slow rate.
Although coral reefs naturally lose a small percentage of their zooxanthellae, adverse changes in the environment can cause a greater number of the symbiotic algae to be lost. If a coral colony loses too much, the white calcium carbonate skeletons of the colony can be exposed, thus causing coral bleaching. Environmental changes include pollution, salinity changes, excess shade, sedimentation, and also increased temperatures.
Yes, coral reefs need an abundance of sunlight to live. And yes, they need temperatures between twenty-five and twenty-nine degrees Celsius depending on location. However, corals have a tendency to bleach due to temperature changes over long periods of time, rather than rapidly fluctuating temperatures.
This is another effect of global warming on the economy. Waters being too warm for coral reefs to live in. Is that not a sign that we need to change our ways?
I believe that we need to change our ways immediately unless we want to let our children to deal with this problem. It was estimated that it would take approximately 1% of our global GDP to drastically change how developed and developing countries are affecting the environment.
I also believe that this number will only increase over time. The longer we just sweep the dirt under the rug, the more its going to pile up until we have to deal with this on a much larger scale.
President Bush claimed that we did not support the Kyoto treaty because he felt it would have a detrimental effect on our economy. I feel that if our economy is not strong enough than we need to change as a society until we can prosper without eliminating natural resources.
