Earthquakes are accelerating the rate at which our climates are changing.
Firstly, let me establish: climate change and earthquakes are not directly related. The magnitudes and frequency of earthquakes are unaffected by climate change and share no correlation with global warming. However, the hidden impacts of earthquakes, which are perhaps ignored by the media, are causing alarming effects on biodiversity and the way that our planet is maintained.
In recent times, the dangers of earthquakes have decreased. Due to the efforts in engineering and raised awareness, as a population we are relatively better prepared against the dangers than we have been ever before. In the last week there have been 4 earthquakes over 6.0 on the Richter Scale recorded, which generally have huge implications on the human population, the largest a magnitude of 8.1 in New Zealand. Despite the large scales, there were zero casualties. Apart from huge scale disasters, some professionals are shifting towards the mindset that impacts may decrease exponentially as we develop further. However, the more dangerous, long-term, and widely impacting effects are being ignored—we need to focus on the hidden environmental impacts that are threatening global ecosystems.
We are already placing coral reef ecosystems under extreme pressures due to our activities. Car transportation, energy, and deforestation are all adding to our excess input of carbon into the atmosphere. Due to the greenhouse effect, coral can no longer cope with the accelerating warming rates of our oceans, causing bleaching, and eventual death of coral polyps, and with it an irreplaceable natural beauty source. We are killing our oceans, and with it harming our prospects. Devasting impacts have already been evident for those that rely on coral reefs for their way of life. Fish are dying, meaning incomes are depleting in fishing industry. The tourism industry will continue to shrink as biodiversity diminishes within the ecosystem, impacting millions, particularly affecting those already in extreme poverty who rely on external tourism for their way of life.
Humanity is not the only factor impacting coral reefs—tectonic activity has the potential to crush the already fragile ecosystem that our Earth relies on. In the first stage of the earthquake, thousands of corals are destroyed through extreme shaking, exiling polyps from the skeleton, and with it killing vast areas of coral reef. However, the impacts do not stop here—the damage from earthquakes are long term in oceans. Increased sediment in the water causes rates of coral deaths to increase hugely, as sunlight is then blocked from allowing coral to photosynthesise, and increased turbidity leads to bacteria on the corals being unable to produce the nutrients needed to survive, leading to many mass extinctions of coral reef species. These events are crushing in impacting coral reefs—a one time event that can impact for months, or even years to come.
There is a lack of information about these damages. The media is totally disregarding how impactful these large-scale events can be on our ecosystems. In Honduras in 2009, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck the area, spreading as far as the Belizean Barrier Reef. Over 10 years later, the area is far from recovery. Once rich in biodiversity, with coral reefs housing thousands of different flora and fauna, the Belizean Barrier Reef now stands a graveyard of the plentiful life that once lived within it. Coral skeletons act as headstones where fish nurseries used to lie; species of coral, such as staghorn now remain a distant memory in the reef, with little hope of return. A place once of natural beauty now is covered with a thin layer of sediment, a forgotten metropolis of life.
This event acts as a warning for the future. Without the devastating effects of climate change on the reef prior to the earthquake, the damages may not have been as severe. Rather than large, robust corals left to withstand the shudders, only weak, small corals were left, survivors of extreme coral bleaching within the area, which were easily torn from ocean floor when the earthquake began. As carbon levels only continue to increase within the atmosphere, these corals will be further damaged, potentially to the point where another natural disaster could trigger a chain of events leading to mass extinction within the ecosystems.
But why should we care? Surely losing a few corals cannot have much impact on the wider population? Quite the opposite—rather than impacting a small area, it is affecting our planet on a global scale. Corals act as a huge source of carbon sink, meaning as much as 90 million tonnes of CO2 are taken in by the species, rather than adding to the levels within the atmosphere. When this carbon sink reduces, the level of dangerous greenhouse gases within the atmosphere increases, accelerating the rate at which solar radiation is trapped, and therefore global warming. Acting as a positive multiplier, without intervention this will only continue to increase. We need to act before all our corals are killed, as this problem threatens our existence. The social consequences as a result of climate change are countless – poverty, displacement and food insecurity are some that are becoming evident in this day. Without action regarding emissions, this will only increase until we reach a point of no return. Currently we still have time. But this predicted time does not take into account the possibility of an unprecedented natural disaster, causing chaos regarding predicting our future.
It is getting to a point where little can be done—there are few to no mitigation techniques against physical losses in the ocean as a result of earthquakes. Climate change is weakening our coral reefs, making them more susceptible to damage from earthquakes. Without serious intervention regarding the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, we are currently waiting for the next offshore earthquake to trigger a chain of events, pushing our carbon levels past the crucial tipping point. Awareness of these dangers needs to be raised; without it we risk the future of our planet and all that live on it.
