In cities across the country, people of color, many of them low income, live in neighborhoods criss-crossed by major thoroughfares and highways. The housing there is often cheaper — it’s not considered particularly desirable to wake up amid traffic fumes and fall asleep to the rumble of vehicles over asphalt. But the price of living there is steep: Exhaust from all those cars and trucks leads to higher rates of childhood asthma, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and pulmonary ailments. Many people die younger than they otherwise would have, and the medical costs and time lost to illness contributes to their poverty.
Imagine if none of those cars and trucks emitted any fumes at all, running instead on an electric charge. That would make a staggering difference in the trajectory, quality, and length of millions of lives, particularly those of young people growing up near freeways and other sources of air pollution, according to a study from the American Lung Association.
The study, released today, found that a widespread transition to EVs could avoid nearly 3 million asthma attacks and hundreds of infant deaths, in addition to millions of lower and upper respiratory ailments. Children, being particularly vulnerable to air pollution, would benefit most, said study author William Barret, the association’s national director on advocacy and clean air. “Children are smaller, they’re breathing more air pound for pound than an adult,” Barret said. “The risk can be immediate, but it’s also long lasting.”
Some 27 million children live in communities affected by high levels of air pollution, the study found. Their vulnerability begins in the womb, where vehicle exhaust, factory smoke, and other pollutants can jump-start inflammation in a fetus and its mother, causing health problems for both and leading to preterm birth and congenital issues that can continue for a lifetime.
Prior research by the American Lung Association found that 120 million people in the U.S. breathe unhealthy air daily, and 72 million live near a major trucking route — though, Barret added, there’s no safe threshold for air pollution. It affects everyone.
Bipartisan efforts to strengthen clean air standards have already made a difference across the country. In California, which, under the Clean Air Act, can set state rules stronger than national standards, 100 percent of new cars sold there must be zero emission by 2035. Truck manufacturers are, according to the state’s Air Resources Board, already exceeding anticipated zero-emissions truck sales, putting them two years ahead of schedule. All that’s needed is for the EPA to grant California the waivers required to implement these standards.
Other states have begun to take action, too, often reaching across partisan lines to do so. Maryland, Colorado, New Mexico, and Rhode Island adopted zero-emissions standards as of the end of 2023. The Biden administration is taking similar steps, though it has slowed its progress after automakers and United Auto Workers pressured the administration to relax some of its more stringent EV transition requirements.
While Barret finds efforts to support the electrification of passenger vehicles exciting, he said the greatest culprits are diesel trucks. “These are 5 to 10 percent of the vehicles on the road, but they’re generating the majority of smog-forming emissions of ozone and nitrogen,” Barret said. Ozone is especially harmful. When ozone makes its way inside the human body, it causes what amounts to a sunburn, inflaming and degrading respiratory tissues.
Lately, there’s been significant progress on truck decarbonization. The Biden administration has made promises to ensure that 30 percent of all big rigs sold are electric by 2030. California has moved aggressively to curb truck emissions, aiming to make medium- and heavy-duty vehicles zero-emission “where possible” by 2035, while heavily regulating certain kinds of freight trucks.
Though legislative mandates and tax incentives like those in the Inflation Reduction Act go a long way toward getting EVs on the road, they don’t remove internal combustion trucks and cars, which pose enough of a health threat that advocates are urging immediate change.
Ideally, Barret said, the Biden administration would immediately roll out clear-cut standards to slash emissions. It is considering truck standards that would by 2032 reduce emissions from heavy-duty vehicles 29 percent below 2021 levels using battery-electric and hybrid vehicles. The current standard only explicitly calls for the use of advanced diesel engines. The study’s authors also strongly recommend that the EPA finalize multi-pollutant regulations for light and medium-duty vehicles, which are currently under consideration. Such measures, combined with an increase in public EV charging stations, vehicle tax credits, and other incentives, could change American highways, not to mention health, for good.
“We just need to see more and more of that given the growing urgency of the climate crisis,” Barret said.
When households in the United States pay their gas and electric bills, they’re paying for energy, the wires and pipelines it takes to get that energy into their home, and the costs of maintaining that infrastructure. But those monthly payments could also be funding efforts by utilities to lobby against climate policies.
While federal law prohibits utilities from recovering lobbying expenses from customers, consumer advocates say that those rules lack teeth and aren’t sufficiently enforced. Now, states are taking the lead to ban the practice. According to the utility watchdog group Energy and Policy Institute, lawmakers in eight states, including California and Maryland, have introduced bills this year that would block utilities from charging customers for the costs of lobbying, advertising, trade association dues, and other political activities. The measures build on a growing trend in state policy: Last year, Colorado, Connecticut, and Maine became the first states in the nation to pass comprehensive laws preventing utilities from passing on the costs of lobbying to ratepayers.
“There is a lot of recent success that states can look to for inspiration,” said Charles Harper, power sector policy lead at the climate advocacy group Evergreen Action. “People are starting to pay attention because they’re realizing that they’re paying for climate denial in their bills every month.”
Over the years, utility companies have come under fire for lobbying to stall climate policies and keep fossil fuel plants running. In several high-profile instances, governments have discovered that those lobbying campaigns were funded in part by consumers. In one particularly brazen example, the Ohio utility company FirstEnergy admitted in 2021 to wire fraud after using millions of ratepayer dollars to bribe the then-speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, Larry Householder, to pass legislation bailing out FirstEnergy’s nuclear and coal power plants and rolling back renewable power standards.
Meanwhile, in California, the state’s Public Advocates Office found last year that the gas utility SoCalGas had charged ratepayers a total of $29.1 million between 2019 and 2023 to fund lobbying efforts against building electrification policies, which reduce the use of oil- and gas-powered appliances in buildings.
Many of the bills introduced this year, including ones in California, Maryland, and Utah, broadly define lobbying as any activity meant to influence political outcomes. This includes advertising to boost a company’s image, as well as dues paid to utility trade associations, which routinely lobby at the federal level. The Edison Electric Institute, an industry group representing investor-owned electric utilities, has advocated against rooftop solar programs and stricter federal carbon emissions standards at power plants, for example. Another trade group representing natural gas utilities, the American Gas Association, has petitioned against more stringent federal energy efficiency standards and advertised the benefits of cooking with natural gas for decades.
Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder sits at the head of a legislative session in Columbus, Ohio, Oct. 30, 2019.
John Minchillo / AP Photo
“Any claim that we have not been a leader in advancing environmental goals is simply not accurate,” Karen Harbert, president and CEO of the American Gas Association, told Grist in an email. Harbert also noted that the gas industry “has long committed to collaboration with policymakers and regulators to help achieve our nation’s ambitious climate and energy goals.” Sarah Durdaller, director of media relations at the Edison Electric Institute, told Grist that the trade group engages in lobbying and advocacy “to ensure that electricity customers have the affordable, reliable, and resilient clean energy they want and need.” Durdaller noted that the institute complies with federal disclosure requirements and voluntarily provides an annual report on lobbying expenditures.
In Maryland, the utility Potomac Edison, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy, admitted to state regulators last year that it had improperly charged customers nearly $1.7 million in lobbying costs, including some related to Ohio’s FirstEnergy bribery scandal. Maryland’s bill, which has been introduced in both chambers, would prevent utilities from charging customers for investor relations, and travel, lodging, and entertainment for a utility’s board of directors or parent company. The bill, along with similar ones introduced in states like Ohio, Utah and Arizona, would require utilities to submit an annual report that itemizes all the costs associated with lobbying and advertising. In Maryland’s proposal, those costs would include the salaries and job descriptions of any staff engaged in lobbying.
Legislation introduced in California would also require utilities to submit itemized reports on all lobbying activities and clarify that they were funded by shareholders — not customers. California’s bill, like measures introduced in Ohio and Utah, goes further than Maryland’s bill by also requiring state utility commissioners to impose fines on utilities that fail to comply with the rules. Under the California bill, three-quarters of those fines would go toward a fund to help low-income households transition to electric appliances. The other quarter would help fund enforcement of the law.
It’s not uncommon for state regulators to fine utility companies for charging ratepayers for lobbying efforts. In 2022, for instance, the California Public Utilities Commission fined SoCalGas $10 million for using ratepayer money to lobby against local gas bans, federal energy efficiency standards, and building electrification policies. But according to Katy Morsony, a staff attorney at the consumer advocacy group The Utility Reform Network, writing those penalties and detailed annual reporting into law will make it much easier to hold utilities accountable.
Morsony also clarified that the bills wouldn’t prevent utilities from engaging in lobbying — they would simply be forced to fund that advocacy work exclusively with money from shareholders. But as households face rising energy costs, she added that any policy to prevent utilities from unlawfully extracting more money from consumers will make a tangible difference.
“It’s common sense ratepayer protections,” Morsony said. “When you’re in the energy affordability crisis that we’re in, every dollar counts.”
During World War II, Amache was one of 10 sites where thousands of Japanese Americans were detained and imprisoned.
The Town of Granada, located one mile away, acquired and donated the necessary land for establishment of the national park, reported The Denver Post.
The Amache National Historic Site Act was signed by President Joe Biden in March of 2022 — the first National Park System designation of the Biden-Harris administration, a press release from NPS said. The now formally established park will help ensure the painful history of Japanese American incarceration in the United States is not forgotten.
“As a nation, we must face the wrongs of our past in order to build a more just and equitable future. The Interior Department has the tremendous honor of stewarding America’s public lands and natural and cultural resources to tell a complete and honest story of our nation’s history,” said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, who visited Amache in February 2022, in the press release.
February 19 was the annual Day of Remembrance of Japanese Incarceration During World War II.
The War Relocation Authority established Amache, formally known as the Granada War Relocation Center, during the war for the purpose of detaining Japanese Americans who were forcibly removed from the U.S. West Coast under Executive Order 9066. From 1942 to 1945 Amache incarcerated more than 10,000 people. At its peak, the detention center housed 7,310 incarcerees — two-thirds were U.S. citizens.
There are already six national parks that were established to preserve and interpret this disturbing chapter of America’s history.
“Amache’s addition to the National Park System is a reminder that a complete account of the nation’s history must include our dark chapters of injustice,” said Chuck Sams, NPS director, in the press release. “To heal and grow as a nation we need to reflect on past mistakes, make amends, and strive to form a more perfect union.”
Over the decades, the historic building foundations and roads of Amache have been preserved by incarceration survivors and their descendants, as well as by the Amache Preservation Society, the Town of Granada and other organizations, individuals and institutions. The site currently consists of a monument, historic cemetery, network of roads, concrete building foundations and several restored and reconstructed World War II-era structures, including a recreation hall, water tank, barrack and guard tower. Amache was designated as a National Historic Landmark in February of 2006 and listed by the National Register of Historic Places in May of 1994.
The groups will continue to expand the public awareness and scholarship surrounding Amache’s history in cooperation with NPS.
The Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program is also administered by NPS. Since 2009, the park service has given more than $41 million to educational institutions; Tribal, state and local governments; nonprofits; and other public entities, funding 302 projects across the country. Recipients of the grants combine federal monies with their own personal resources to develop partnerships preserving, identifying and interpreting important sites and stories.
“Today’s establishment of the Amache National Historic Site will help preserve and honor this important and painful chapter in our nation’s story for future generations,” Haaland said.
According to official data, air pollution levels in Milan — including fine particulates — have been among Europe’s highest for February.
Fine particulate matter poses the most health risks because it can go deep into the lungs and even make its way into the bloodstream.
“It stinks! I smell a constant stench of smog, I cough, I feel my throat burning,” said Pietro De Luca, a Milan resident who frequently considers relocating with his family to get away from the intense pollution and accompanying health risks, as Reuters reported.
To reduce their exposure, some residents of the fashion and finance capital of Italy have taken to wearing face masks outside.
Mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala disputed IQAir’s designation of the city’s air quality as “unhealthy,” calling it “the usual impromptu analyses made by a private body,” reported The Guardian.
IQAir uses “governmental stations and low-cost sensors owned by citizen scientists around the world: a combined total of over 80,000 locations” in gathering its data, the air quality monitor’s website says.
On Tuesday, the air pollution in Milan and neighboring cities in Italy’s northern Lombardy region triggered measures limiting ultra-polluting vehicles during the busiest daytime hours, Reuters reported. Nearly a third of the country’s population — 17 million people — lives in the region’s Po Valley.
Satellite image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission shows smog and mist blanketing the Po Valley on Jan. 29, 2024. European Space Agency
“In Milan you have to try and survive in this swamp for five days a week, and get yourself out for the weekend to get a breath of fresh air,” said former Milan resident Roberto Lorenzutti, who now lives in Sardinia, as reported by Reuters.
In 2020, the European Union Court of Justice found Italy in breach of the EU’s clean air regulations.
The area’s pollution issues come from its industrial and agricultural activities, which are compounded by air being trapped in the valley, according to Valentina Bosetti, a Bocconi University professor of environmental and climate change economics.
A 2023 investigation by The Guardian discovered that more than one-third of residents of the valley and its surrounding areas were breathing air that contained four times the limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the most hazardous airborne particulates.
Despite calling IQAir’s classification of the region “unreliable,” regional environmental protection agency ARPA-Lombardia said the air quality in Milan had recently been above a 2.5 particulate matter (PM) limit, The Guardian reported.
Last year’s levels for PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and PM10 in Milan all breached WHO’s guidelines, said Italian environmental nonprofit organization Legambiente, as reported by Reuters.
Regional councilor for the environment Giorgio Malone said the problem has been going on for a long time, but that over the course of the last two decades there has been a 45 percent reduction of concentrations of NO2 and a 39 percent reduction of PM10, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, Elena Eva Maria Grandi, environment councilor in Milan, requested more direct cooperation between regional and municipal authorities in evaluating emergency measures to deal with the high pollution levels. Milan is set to co-host the next Winter Olympics in 2026. “Current pollution thresholds are fully unsatisfactory to protect our health, this is what the World Health Organization says,” said Anna Gerometta, president of Italy Citizens for Air, as reported by ABC News.
According to a survey by BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine, hedgehog sightings in the UK are finally on the rise after declining observations of these mammals since 2000.
A separate report from 2022, State of Britain’s Hedgehogs, noted a marked decline in hedgehogs, particularly in eastern Britain. According to that report, rural hedgehogs had decreased 30% to 75% since 2000, but there were more promising signs of population stabilization in urban areas.
Now, a survey by Gardeners’ World reported a 2% increase in sightings, after its previous hedgehog survey found a decline. Thirty-three percent of respondents this year said they saw hedgehogs in their gardens, compared to 31% of respondents who observed hedgehogs in last year’s survey.
As The Guardian reported, some activists have been working to make urban areas more wildlife-friendly, through initiatives like allowing some parts of gardens to grow more wild and building pathways through fences for the hedgehogs to travel easier.
But some experts are still cautiously optimistic about the findings, noting that this increase doesn’t mean populations will continue increasing and that hedgehogs still face many threats.
“Valuable as the Gardeners’ World survey is, we need to remember that these figures are only a snapshot,” Fay Vass, CEO of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, told The Guardian. “Populations change year to year, and these findings might not necessarily represent the underlying trend.”
Young People’s Trust for the Environment, a UK-based charity, reported that the hedgehog population in England, Wales and Scotland is estimated to be around 1 million, a sharp decline from the 30 million present in the 1950s.
Road development and traffic are big threats to hedgehogs, which can experience habitat fragmentation because of roadways. Collisions are another major threat. According to British Hedgehog Preservation Society, about 167,000 to 335,000 hedgehogs are killed on roads in the UK each year. Other threats include direct and indirect affects from pesticide use, plastic pollution, gardening machinery and drowning in ponds and lakes.
Environmental organizations and home gardeners are working to make safer habitats for hedgehogs to help reverse the declining trend. The latest Gardeners’ World survey found that 77% of respondents were taking action to make their gardens better suited to wildlife. Some common actions included letting gardens grow more naturally, checking for wildlife before using garden machinery and stopping the use of slug pellets in the garden, The Guardian reported.
“It’s wonderful to witness an increase in sightings,” Kevin Smith, editor of Gardeners’ World, told The Guardian. “Our ongoing efforts to educate people about wildlife-friendly gardening, such as creating openings in fences and providing secluded spaces for nesting and hibernation, are helping turn our gardens into the havens that hedgehogs have long enjoyed.”
Corals grow an estimated 0.39 inches per year — one of the slowest growth rates of any animal on Earth.
A few square kilometers of coral reef takes roughly a million years to grow.
At nearly 135,136 square miles, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the largest structure in the world made by living organisms, and can be seen from outer space.
The Great Barrier Reef is actually made up of nearly 3,000 separate reefs.
Corals like strong currents because they circulate seawater quickly, keeping the temperature — especially at the surface — cooler and more stable.
Scientists have predicted that by 2055, 90 percent of coral reefs worldwide will experience severe annual bleaching.
What Are ‘Coral Reefs’?
Rich biodiversity at a coral reef in Egypt’s Red Sea. Alexis Rosenfeld / Getty Images
Coral reefs consist of hundreds of thousands of coral polyps — marine animal invertebrates with hard calcium carbonate exoskeletons. Different species grow to form a variety of measurements and shapes — from the size of a pinhead to as large as a foot in diameter.
Coral colonies are habitats and breeding grounds for many marine species, including sharks, manatees, dugongs, fish, sea urchins, molluscs and sea sponges.
Types of Coral Reefs
Fringing
Aerial photo of Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia. RichardALock / iStock / Getty Images Plus
There are three main types of coral reefs: fringing, barrier and atoll, the most common of which is the fringing reef. A fringing reef extends from the shore out into the ocean, forming a border along the coastline and nearby islands.
Fringing reefs grow more successfully on rising or stable shorelines. They consist of the reef flat, also known as the “back reef,” and the reef slope, or “fore reef.” The fore reef is the part closest to the sea, while the back reef makes up the widest portion of the reef. Corals in a fringing reef grow upward toward the ocean’s surface or outward in the direction of the sea.
The planet’s largest fringing reef is the Ningaloo Reef, which extends 155 miles along Australia’s western coast. It is home to 300 coral species, 500 fish species, 600 species of mollusks and a host of other sea life and marine invertebrates.
Barrier
Aerial view of the Great Barrier Reef and diving boats. Philip Thurston / iStock / Getty Images Plus
The largest type of coral reef, barrier reefs border the continental shelf like fringing reefs, but grow further out in a linear fashion, separated by a frequently deep lagoon of water. Shallow parts of the reef sometimes touch the surface, forming a “barrier” that can impede boat traffic.
Barrier reefs can be hundreds of miles long and several miles wide, but are not nearly as common as the two other main types of reefs.
Probably the best known barrier reef in the world, the Great Barrier Reef is located off the coast of Australia in the Coral Sea. The Great Barrier Reef is Earth’s largest coral reef system — rather than one reef, it is actually made up of nearly 3,000 separate reefs. It extends 1,429 miles over an area of nearly 135,136 square miles. The Great Barrier Reef is so extensive, it can be spotted from space.
Atoll
Small islands on the Three Brothers group on the western Great Chagos Bank. Brian W. Bowen
An atoll is actually a fringing reef that once surrounded a volcano, but as the volcano sank below sea-level, the corals continued to grow, becoming the only thing visible from the surface.
Atolls are typically circular, oval or shaped like a horseshoe and have a sandy, shallow lagoon in the middle. The coral rim of an atoll may or may not entirely surround the lagoon, but if it does, little or no sea water will move in and out.
The 4,881 square-mile Great Chagos Bank, located in the Indian Ocean, is the largest atoll on the planet. It consists of the protected Eagle Islands, Danger Island, Nelson Island and the Three Brothers islands.
Why Are Coral Reefs Important? Why Do They Matter?
Support One-Quarter of All Marine Species
Fish swim among corals near the island of Ambon, Indonesia. Velvetfish / iStock / Getty Images Plus
It is estimated that a quarter of marine species are supported by coral reef ecosystems, though reefs do not even comprise one percent of the seafloor.
These cradles of biodiversity act as habitat, feeding, reproduction and nursery grounds for more than a million marine species.
Iridescent mantle of a giant clam in Micronesia, Palau. Reinhard Dirscherl / ullstein bild via Getty Images
Protect Coastlines From Storms, Flooding and Erosion
Coral reefs act as natural barriers that protect coastlines from erosion. Corals grow laterally across the seabed and up between the seafloor and the water’s surface. This stabilizes the seabed and absorbs wave energy and elements from the open ocean. Some coral reefs are capable of absorbing more than 95 percent of wave energy.
The buffer of a reef also reduces storm damage from cyclones, as well as some of the energy of tsunamis.
Reefs not only protect the shoreline and its human developments, but the ecosystems — like lagoons containing seagrass meadows — that lie between the coast and the reefs themselves.
Clean the Water
A great number of corals and sponges consume nutrients from particulate matter through the process of filter feeding. This helps prevent harmful particles from settling on the ocean floor and keeps waters clear.
Act as Cultural Heritage Sites
The indigenous Jarawas traditionally go in small groups to catch fish among the coral of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India. Thierry Falise / LightRocket via Getty Images
Corals have cultural importance for many of the world’s coastal communities, such as the Torres Strait Islanders with the Great Barrier Reef, and Hawaiians, for whom the coral polyp holds significance in traditional stories.
Even for those who don’t live close to the sea, coral reefs are associated with the vast and colorful scope of marine biodiversity on our planet. Visits to coral reefs result in millions of trips each year and billions in tourism dollars for local communities.
Provide Food, Income and Recreation for Humans
Roughly six million fishers count on coral reefs for the economic goods and services they provide. In the U.S., their annual commercial value is estimated to be more than $100 million, while the estimated economic value globally is $375 billion.
Hundreds of millions of people rely on coral reefs for their resources, protection and tourism. Many of the people who depend on the reefs are from island nations and developing countries and take food directly from the reef’s waters.
Roughly 20 to 25 percent of fish, molluscs and crustaceans in developing countries come from coral reefs, 70 to 90 percent in Southeast Asian nations and 10 percent worldwide.
Snorkelers and divers flock to coral reefs to admire the stunning array of colorful species, with more than 100 countries reaping the benefits of reef tourism.
A snorkeler with corals and tropical fish in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. chameleonseye / iStock / Getty Images Plus
For many small island nations, coral reefs are responsible for most of their new economic development.
Responsibly managed reefs that limit pollution and harm from tourists can help provide sources of income for developing coastal countries.
A Source of Medicine
Corals spend their lives fixed to one spot. In order to protect themselves, they have evolved chemicals to defend against other organisms threatening their space. Some of the chemicals have been studied by scientists for their medicinal benefits related to cell aging and certain types of cancer. The skeleton of a coral is similar to human bones, and has been used for bone grafts for decades.
Only a small number of reef organisms have been tested and analyzed, so there may be undiscovered pharmaceutical remedies hiding in coral reef waters.
Challenges Facing Coral Reefs
Ocean Warming & Acidification
The greatest threats to coral reefs worldwide are increasing ocean temperatures due to climate change and the resulting changes in ocean chemistry. Warmer temperatures are causing oceans to heat up, while atmospheric carbon gas dissolves into the water, causing acidification.
Atmospheric and oceanic carbon dioxide are in equilibrium with each other, so when carbon concentrations in the atmosphere increase, so do those in seawater. When carbon enters the ocean, it forms carbonic acid — a compound of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen — increasing the water’s acidity.
Roughly a quarter of the carbon emitted from humans burning fossil fuels is absorbed by the ocean. The acidity of the ocean has increased about 30 percent since the Industrial Revolution — the fastest rate in millions of years. By the end of the century, ocean acidity levels are predicted to be 40 percent higher than they are now.
A blacktip reef shark swims over dead coral off the island of Huraa near Male, Maldives on Dec. 12, 2019. Some parts of the Maldives are believed to have lost up to 90% of corals because of climate change and ocean warming. Carl Court / Getty Images
When ocean acidity increases, the amount of ions and salts corals need to form calcium carbonate are reduced, leading to slower coral growth. The decrease in coral growth affects species to differing degrees, but severe acidification can cause some coral skeletons to dissolve.
Runoff can lead to nutrient enrichment, increasing the acidity of coastal waters in local areas and worsening ocean acidification.
Bleaching
Microscopic algae grow on corals in a symbiotic relationship, providing the corals with food. The algae are expelled by their coral hosts when they become stressed due to increased ocean temperatures. This puts further strain on the corals and exposes their white calcium carbonate structure — a process called coral bleaching.
Prolonged or severe bleaching can leave coral colonies vulnerable to additional threats like infectious diseases.
Research has shown that when corals are exposed to high carbon dioxide levels, their bleaching risk increases by as much as 50 percent.
Scientists have predicted that by 2055, 90 percent of coral reefs worldwide will experience severe annual bleaching.
A diver observes major bleaching on the coral reefs of the Society Islands in Moorea, French Polynesia on May 9, 2019. Alexis Rosenfeld / Getty Images
Human Activities
Since most coral reefs are near the shoreline in shallow water, they face numerous threats and are especially vulnerable to human activities. Many human actions that degrade corals are indirect — like pollutants, nutrients and microplastics — while others such as overfishing and coral harvesting are more direct.
Overfishing
Nature is about balance, so anything that involves the adding or subtracting of too many nutrients or resources disrupts its equilibrium — not just in the present, but it can lead to cascading effects and change the structure of the ecosystem.
Overfishing depletes populations of grazing fish who help keep corals from becoming overgrown with algae. An overabundance of algae is food for microbes and encourages their growth. The microbes then deplete corals’ oxygen and introduce diseases into their environment. Less corals mean more algae, which further endanger the remaining corals.
The use of explosives to kill fish — blast fishing — is an especially destructive practice that can physically damage not only fish, but corals too.
Pathogens
Stormwater and sewage that has not been treated properly, as well as livestock runoff, can result in pathogens ending up in the ocean. Parasites and bacteria from fecal contamination — though rare — can infect corals, particularly if they are already experiencing environmental stressors.
Healthy ecosystems do sometimes experience outbreaks of coral disease, but the addition of pollution containing pathogens can make the intensity and frequency worse.
Nutrients
Sediment from the agriculture sector flows with the rivers onto the Great Barrier Reef where the nutrients harm the corals in Queensland, Australia on Oct. 10, 2019. Jonas Gratzer / LightRocket via Getty Images
Excessive amounts of nutrients — such as phosphorus and nitrogen from sewage discharge, animal waste and residential and agricultural fertilizer and pesticides — can cause algal growth that takes away from corals’ oxygen supply, occludes sunlight and can lead to bleaching. This can cause an imbalance in the ecosystem as well as the growth of fungi and bacteria that can be unhealthy for corals.
Toxic Substances
Toxic substances like chemicals and metals — such as lead, mercury, oxybenzone, dioxin and polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) — that come from sunscreens, industrial discharge and mining can affect the growth rate, feeding, reproduction and defense responses of corals.
Trash and Microplastics
A sea turtle swims by a plastic bottle on a coral reef in Australia. Philip Thurston / E+ / Getty Images
This marine debris can get caught on corals and damage or break them, block sunlight and kill or entangle reef organisms. Microplastics and beads can be eaten by corals, sea turtles, fish and other marine life, poisoning them with toxins and blocking their digestive tracts.
Habitat Destruction
Coastal development, ship groundings and anchors, quarrying, dredging, harmful fishing practices and the touching or removing of corals during recreation or harvesting can all lead to physical damage and destruction of coral habitat.
Sedimentation
Agriculture, coastal development, forestry and urban stormwater runoff can cause the deposit of sediments onto reefs. This sedimentation can smother corals, as well as disrupt their ability to grow, feed and reproduce.
Coral Harvesting
Collecting live corals to be used to make jewelry and curios and for use in aquariums can result in the overharvesting of certain species, as well as the destruction of coral reef habitat.
What Can We Do to Support Coral Reefs?
As a Society?
The Grand Cul de Sac Marin protected UNESCO marine reserve in Guadeloupe. PhotDeAgostini / Getty Images
The most important thing society can do to help corals and reef ecosystems is to reduce the use of fossil fuels, as they are the cause of global heating and ocean warming, which leads to ocean acidification and coral bleaching.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is in charge of implementing Clean Water Act programs to reduce the pollution that degrades coastal waters and coral habitat. The natural resilience of sensitive reef systems will be enhanced by people reducing stressors to reefs in their local communities.
Another societal practice that is essential to coral reefs is to strictly manage coastal development, as it can erode the shoreline, lead to sediment deposits and encourage the overvisitation of coral reefs. It is also important that mining and agricultural runoff be limited or prohibited, as metals and chemicals from their processes can make their way into waterways and the ocean, causing damage to corals.
The pristine marine ecosystem of Hanauma Bay in Oahu, Hawaii. Mary Baratto / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Overfishing must cease and sustainable fisheries be supported to ensure marine life and the balance of the coral reef ecosystem are not disrupted. Managing tourism is necessary to limit overexposure and damage to reefs. At the same time, laws prohibiting sunscreens that are toxic to corals and reef animals need to be passed and enforced.
In Our Own Lives?
There are many things individuals can do to support the health of coral reefs. When visiting reefs, be sure not to touch corals or any marine life and don’t take anything away from the reef system when diving or snorkeling in the area. Reduce your use of sunscreen by wearing a rash guard or long-sleeved shirt to prevent sunburn — if you do use sunscreen, always make sure it’s reef safe.
In your everyday life, save as much energy as possible by turning off lights and using energy-efficient appliances; eat sustainable seafood; use environmentally-friendly forms of transportation; reduce stormwater runoff and use green alternatives to pesticides and toxic fertilizers, since they can be washed into the sewer system and end up in rivers and the ocean; reduce your use of plastic — microplastics have become ubiquitous in every environment on Earth and can damage corals and other reef life; when buying fish for an aquarium, be sure they have been collected sustainably and don’t purchase living coral; and recycle as much as possible and dispose of trash properly so it does not make its way into waterways and the ocean.
Takeaway
Great biodiversity of a coral reef in the Banda Sea, Indonesia. ifish / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Coral reefs are some of the most beautiful ecosystems on Earth. Their vast array of marine life of all colors, shapes and sizes is an incredible testament to our planet’s biodiversity. Global heating has led to ocean warming, which affects sensitive corals and has increased detrimental bleaching. Coastal development, sedimentation and toxic chemicals are all threats to reef ecosystems and must be limited or prohibited to protect them.
Everyone has a part to play in the protection of coral reefs — the decisions we make in how we travel, eat, buy, garden and conduct ourselves when visiting reef habitats all affect these unique ecosystems. Working together to protect coral reefs is the best chance they have of surviving the global climate crisis.
An octopus on a coral reef in the Cap de Creus, Costa Brava, Spain. ullstein bild / Getty Images
