End of the Road

So it's that time of the year again when the blogging comes to an unwanted end. So here is a song that fits this moment perfectly. 

Oh wow, I have only ever heard the song but never seen the video. This is a bit of a shock. 

But anyway, the song is actually quite symbiotic, as this love affair between the blog and I shouldn't have to end as the video so poignantly states, it's 'unnatural' and 'you belong to me as I belong to you'. It is safe to say that this method of writing has been a breath of fresh air, a nice spearmint scent in fact, and when I have time I hope to continue blogging. It has certainly been enjoyable and I hope you have enjoyed reading it too even at times like this when I have turned slightly weird/mad. But hey, it makes it interesting!

 Anyway, that's enough of that and it brings me to my final conclusions:

• It is clear that the continued creation and existence of coral is vital. They provide important economic, societal, environmental and medicinal benefits through their individual diversity but also collectively when you look at the biodiversity of the whole coral reef ecosystem. In a lot of cases, when corals finally disappear so does the benefit as there is no alternative present. The impact of coral reefs loss is particularly pronounced in island communities where a productive reef is the difference between life or death. It has been interesting to read local examples of the importance of corals to societies on Kate Price's Blog.
• Coral reefs are at the mercy of a number of threats linked to climate change both directly and indirectly. Furthermore, the threats can be from environmental, economic or societal pressures as seen with Blue Ventures (BV). This blog has critically explored these threats and how they impact corals. Beth Evans' Blog and Kate Price's Blog have both tackled the some of threats that I have discussed and agree that they are significant. Therefore, there is no denying that the Anthropocene has had, and will continue to have an impact on this ecosystem.
• Then there are the solutions. This blog has looked at the use of Marine Protection Areas (MPAs), innovative use of social communication in the BV case study and finally Biorock mineral accretion technology. From the information published in each respective post, the solutions do have a beneficial effect. MPAs are useful on a large scale whilst the production of biorock structures is more of an incremental process. MPAs do have their drawbacks but the others seem have few negatives. It is said that doing something is better than doing nothing but that something has to be the right something. For example, what is the point of protecting an area that is not threatened by human influence? None. But if it is done, then this is surely invoking the precautionary principle so it may not actually be a bad idea in the wider context.
• What of the future I ask you. At the moment the future for coral reefs does not look promising. It is all over the media as well as in scientific papers that coral reefs could disappear by 2100, and that figure is optimistic. Ideally, global warming has to be significantly reduced to mitigate the chances of coral reef extinction. Furthermore, the public need educating so that they can understand the benefit of coral reefs. This could be any form but preferably a way which is engaging such as this multimedia art installation by Brooklyn artist, Paul Hunt. Moreover, I implore the various governments around the world to do more as it is often these bodies that hinder progress. 

So that draws me to the end of the blog. I hope that after following this blog you have gained a better understanding of the value of corals. I know I have. Further, I hope that you have made use of the TED videos, news articles at the bottom of the blog and all the video links I have posted from the various sources.

As I can't end with my original sign out, I will use this...

Over and out,

Seb