Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on The Effects of the 1997-98 El Nino on Coral Reefs: Bleaching, Sea Surface Temperatures and Other Factors
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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This is a 9 page paper discussing the effects of El Nino on the world’s coral reefs in addition to other factors. Excessive and sudden high sea water temperatures, El Nino, have a devastating effect on the coral reefs in over 100 countries around the world. High sea surface temperatures cause a disruption of enzymes in the coral’s zooxanthellae which then create toxic byproducts which kill the living coral resulting in a whitening or bleaching effect. Coral bleaching has been used in the last decade to study the changes in marine ecosystems using methods which include a combination of marine and satellite imagery efforts. The El Nino of 1997-98 was particularly destructive to the coral reefs as over 16 percent were instantly bleached in that year. In addition to the effects of sea temperatures rising, El Nino and human environmental factors, over 27 percent of the world’s coral reefs have been severely damaged. While it has been found that 30 percent may be recovering from the 1997-98 El Nino disaster, some reefs found in the Caribbean have shown no signs of recovery since 1998.
Bibliography lists 14 sources.
Page Count:
9 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_TJelnin1.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
around the world. High sea surface temperatures cause a disruption of enzymes in the corals zooxanthellae which then create toxic byproducts which kill the living coral resulting in a whitening
or bleaching effect. Coral bleaching has been used in the last decade to study the changes in marine ecosystems using methods which include a combination of marine and satellite imagery
efforts. The El Nino of 1997-98 was particularly destructive to the coral reefs as over 16 percent were instantly bleached in that year. In addition to the effects of sea
temperatures rising, El Nino and human environmental factors, over 27 percent of the worlds coral reefs have been severely damaged. While it has been found that 30 percent may be
recovering from the 1997-98 El Nino disaster, some reefs found in the Caribbean have shown no signs of recovery since 1998. A Brief Overview
In a report published in the May 2001 journal of World Watch, it was stated that "as of late 2000, an estimated 27 percent of the worlds coral reefs
were severely damaged according to the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network" (Mastny, 2001, p. 20). Only a decade ago, this figure stood at 10 percent. Over 100 countries worldwide rely
on coral reefs for essential goods and services valued at over $375 billion per year which include industries such as tourism and of course fishing as coral reefs provide important
breeding and feeding grounds for fish. In addition the reefs provide protection for coastlines from storm damage, severe flooding and erosion. Although coral reefs only cover less than 0.2 percent
of the ocean area, their complex ecosystems provide the much needed habitat for as many as 1 million marine species (Mastny, 2001). In
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