Can+this+Ultra-Thin+'Sunscreen'+Save+the+World's+Largest+Coral+Reef?


 * Lacy Wilder**
 * 3A**
 * 4/27/18**


 * Title:** Can this Ultra-Thin "Sunscreen" Save the World's Largest Coral Reef?


 * Source:** NBC Science News

Campanaro, Amanda. “Can This Ultra-Thin ‘Sunscreen’ Save the World’s Largest Coral Reef?.” NBC Science News 5 Apr. 2018. NBC. Web. 26 Apr. 2018. [|https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/can-ultra-thin-sunscreen-save-world-s-largest-coral-reef-ncna863001]

Austrailia's Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef, is threatened by the effects of climate change such as more acidic seawater and increased ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Many parts of the reef have died of reef bleaching. Scientists in Australia have developed an ultra-thin layer of calcium carbonate, the material naturally found in coral skeletons, that can be applied to the water's surface above the reef. The goal is for the calcium carbonate layer to give the coral time to adjust to higher temperatures and higher doses of UV radiation so that the coral can adapt its chemical structures. The calcium carbonate screen would be biodegradable and it would be sprayed onto the water's surface above the reef, reflecting up to 30% of the UV light that reaches the water surface, which regulates both UV radiation exposure and water temperature. The screen is so thin that it does not disrupt the activity of birds or fish. The reef is too large for the screen to be applied to the entire reef, but it can be used for the most at-risk areas. Protecting the reef can help protect areas with tourism value and conservation value.
 * Summary:**

The degradation of the Great Barrier Reef relates to our chapter on climate change and ozone depletion. The depletion of the ozone layer, the stratospheric global sunscreen in which oxygen is converted to and from ozone, blocks out the highest radiation UV-C light and most UV-B radiation. As ozone-depleting compounds such as freons, halons, methyl bromide, and methyl chloroform break down the ozone layer, increasing amounts of UV-B radiation reach Earth's surface. This increased exposure to UV-B radiation increases the Great Barrier Reef's exposure to ultraviolet radiation, which leads to reef bleaching--the problem that the calcium carbonate technology aims to mitigate. The increased amounts of acid in the seawater, which also leads to reef bleaching, may be caused by the increase in acid deposition caused by human activity, such as sulfur emissions from the burning of nonrenewable fossil fuels. Acid deposition influenced by human activities was discussed in our air pollution and nonrenewable resources chapters. The technology discussed in this article aims to solve reef bleaching, which is caused by the climate change issues discussed in APES. This technology is an example of a pollution cleanup strategy, in which technology is created in order to fix pre-existing pollution/climate change issues, as well as a pollution prevention strategy because it prevents further damage from being done.
 * How does it relate to APES?:**

I found this article incredibly fascinating because I want to do environmental science as a career in order to fix issues related to climate change, such as coral reef bleaching. While I believe that this technology is incredibly innovative and will help to rebuild the Great Barrier Reef, I believe that the bulk effort must go to pollution prevention. If humans can reduce our use of ozone-depleting compounds in order to reduce the depletion of the ozone layer, it will prevent problems such as reef bleaching. I see this technology as a predominantly pollution cleanup strategy, which is not as sustainable as pollution prevention. Although it is incredibly important to develop pollution cleanup strategies such as this in order to reduce current damage, we must shift our focus as a society onto pollution/climate change prevention so that we do not have the need to develop more expensive, possibly environmentally damaging pollution cleanup technologies. This technology is incredibly innovative and I am curious to hear about its results.
 * Opinion:**

This technology development relates to the Water Resources Planning Act of 1965, which provides a for plan to formulate and evaluate water and related land resource projects. Although this technology was implemented in Australia rather than the US, hypothetically, this act would ensure the evaluation of this water resource technology to preserve coral reefs. This act encourages the protection of water resources and the formulation of projects to preserve them. Thus, this calcium carbonate technology is an example of the type of water resource project the act strives to promote. Under this act, the effectiveness, safety, and impact of the technology would be evaluated. For example, the technology has been evaluated to show that it can help protect small reef areas and it that it will not harm fish or birds. The Water Resources Planning Act of 1995 helps to implement and evaluate projects such as the calcium carbonate screen.
 * Environmental Law:**

Coral Reef Bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef. From: []