O/T - Good Article to Read

[WLDSHARK]

Florida Legislature set to bar dumping of treated sewage into ocean

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flfsewage0417sbapr17,0,7235763.story

 

[ahoyhoy239]

finally they realize whats going on, hopefully its not too late to repair the damage thats been done

 

[loyalrogue]

Bout time.
I've been writing our legislators for years about this.
Yeah, it's gonna cost a little more, but when you consider the dying reefs, our tourism, the bacteria levels shutting down the beaches, and our water supply shortage it's really a no-brainer.

 

[djfrankie]

There may be nothing left to save in 17 years

djfrankie

 

[Young Frankenstein]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12352393#post12352393 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by djfrankie
There may be nothing left to save in 17 years

djfrankie

Thats a no brainer........by 2025 that they are "planing" to stop .........do you really expect to see any corals there? the only thing will be " $ 90 extra per month to save the reef thats gone"

 

[ReefWreak]

Pardon me for playing devil's advocate, but wouldn't an increase in nutrient levels promote growth in the coral reefs (bacteria feed the sponges, nutrients feed algae which feeds fish, turtles, and much more). Of course that also would have to be in "reasonable" quantities, which may be the reason that this is more of a problem than a blessing, that they're not "reasonable quantities.

Also, something to consider is that they're not releasing things like heavy metals, VOCs, and other hazardous wastes, but more than likely simple nitrogenous wastes (feces, etc) after they've been everything but sanitized.

I'm not calling anyone out, but I hate reading things like that that hardly give you any more information than a "hot button" scenario/situation/topic that your knee-jerk reaction to is of course negative.

Also something to keep in mind, is that the optimal level of pollution is never zero.

 

[Young Frankenstein]

The article mentions phosphates, thats the # 1 killer of corals.

 

[ReefWreak]

It mentions "He contends that the sewage discharges fertilize algae blooms that smother coral reefs."

I agree that they probably put through too much phosphates, but the rest is probably nitrogen, and to be fair, if they pumped iron into the outflow, it would have similar, if not the same effect (which is why it is one of the more drastic propositions for combating global warming; just pouring tons of iron into the pacific ocean's upwellings, to make giant algae blooms to reduce CO2 and increase O2)

 

[d9sccr]

According to many of the profs here, that isn't really looked at as an answer to global warming anymore as there is no gain in the amount of CO2 consumed. The water that is "fertilized" w/ iron eventually moves into areas where iron is no longer a limiting factor, areas where plankton blooms occur naturally. The problem is that many of the nutrients that this plankton would have used to grow and reproduce are now gone so they can't "do their thing".

Increasing nutrient loads on a reef DOES NOT help the coral grow. Naturally, coral reefs are very low nutrient rich areas. If you upset the balance, algaes use this extra nutrient load to grow and since they grow faster than corals, they ultimately end up smothering the corals.

 

[ReefWreak]

Yea that's why I said it was one of the more drastic solutions, as it isn't particularly feasible.

Again, I just want to say that I agree with most of you on here, I'm just purely playing devil's advocate, because unless you understand both sides of the equation, you're not necessarily in a position to make a firm judgment.

 

[Young Frankenstein]

Thats acres of corals destroyed..........and they go after the people in this hobby like theres no tomorrow if they take some live rock forget the corals. I know 2wrongs dont make 1right...........but I just cant help it when I see mass destruction and in the same waters corals that will disappear over time are "protected" .Why not let the aquarium hobbyist harvest those areas?

 

[Ludwigia73]

I can't remember where I saw it, but it was a really interesting read... there's a country that most of us have never heard of (been at war with Ethiopia, so we don't have much to do with them, I guess) Anyway, the reefs there are subjected to some really nasty conditions, such as very high temps for alot of the year, up to 92-94 degrees, and they've adapted and are thriving. There was mention of seeding our reefs with those corals to start forming reefs where the temps are rising.

I for one can't wait till they stop dumping sewage, even though the outflows are some of the better fishing (called the stinkhole, for appropriate reasons... don't need gps, just follow your nose). I'm tired of hearing about all these sewer pipes breaking open, at least once a year, and spewing (good word for it) tons of sewage into our fragile ecosystem. I'm volunteering to pay $10 a month more if they completely stop it.

 

[d9sccr]

I seriously doubt that they would seed our reefs w/ corals from theirs. People are mad enough about lionfish living in the Carib.

 

[Ludwigia73]

Not now... as the reefs are dying,the fact they could bring in corals that would thrive in warmer temps...