Faster Than Expected: S. Florida Reef Erosion Projected For 2050-60 Has Already Arrived

[hatrack]

South Florida’s shrinking reefs may be vanishing faster than expected. In a new study published Monday in the journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles, researchers found that climate-related coral erosion projected to start between 2050 and 2060 has already started near Miami. The situation is better moving south and away from Miami’s dense coast, where pollution may be worsening conditions. But researchers say Miami could serve as a glimpse of things to come for the Florida reef tract.

“We tend to think we have a lot of time and this study shows we have maybe 30 years less time,” said lead author Chris Langdon, a University of Miami marine biologist. “We need to get serious sooner rather than later.”

Monday’s report comes just days after another study concluded a reef tract near Miami took a hit from another unlikely threat: the U.S. government. In its first assessment of a $205 million dredging of PortMiami, the National Marine Fisheries Service last week concluded that sediment stirred up by the work smothered and killed many of the coral near the Government Cut channel. The report contradicts findings earlier this year by the U.S. Corps of Engineers, which managed the project and blamed the deaths for an outbreak of white plague disease.

EDIT

Florida’s reef tract once stretched from the Dry Tortugas north to Palm Beach County but has shrunk to just a fraction of that historic range, pounded by pollution, over-fishing and damage from anchors. A year ago, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Science researchers warned that warming temperatures could cause an increase in bleaching events for the region a dozen years sooner than expected. Langdon’s findings are even more alarming: Fowey Rocks, a popular dive spot in Biscayne National Park off Key Biscayne, is disappearing today, he said.

EDIT

http://www.bradenton.com/news/state/florida/article75276567.html

[yourpaljoey]

1. I am still constantly surprised

The collapse is happening faster than expected --I know that--
and yet every time I read something like this I am surprised.
Seems I keep looking for linear growth in an exponential world.

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. New Study Found Ocean Acidification May Be Impacting Coral Reefs in the Florida Keys

http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/news-events/press-releases/2016/new-study-found-ocean-acidification-may-be-impacting-coral-reefs-in-fl-keys/