Wednesday 10 September 2014

Mad Mangroves: Death by Disaster

Yes, mangroves are beautiful places.
Yes, I love mangroves. 
Yes, they are in danger. Very much, indeed.


DEATH BY DISASTER:
The anthropogenic threats faced by mangroves today
I spy with my little eyes...
(Photo taken by Joeline Lim. March 2014)
We are a species driven by self-interest, living in a massive bubble of what some people call 'The Unknown', or what I call 'Our Ignorance'. Oh, what great abilities we possess, but what narrow minds we have! 

With approximately 35% of global mangroves being lost in a mere span of 20 years, mangroves have been one of the most neglected & threatened biomes in the world. Why are they loss? How have they been loss?

The predicted relative rise in sea levels has been said to be the greatest threat to existing mangroves (Gilman et. al 2008) & mangroves are likely to be completely loss in the next 100 years, should current situations persist (Duke et. al 2007). Historically, mangroves have been able to keep pace with changes in sea levels & maintain their relative position in the tidal frame. However, the recent rate of increase of sea levels has been far greater than the rate at which mangroves can adapt to it, putting them at the vulnerable risk of inundation. How then is the rise in sea levels even related to us? Climate change, of course! The 5th Assessment Report released by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicated that anthropogenic causes have increased land surface albedo & the production of greenhouse gases - factors that exacerbate & enhance the rate & extent of climate change.

Together with growing developmental pressures (i.e. urbanisation & industrialisation) & competition for land, many mangroves now face a situation termed 'Coastal Squeeze', where the seaward margin of a mangrove retreats upslope while its landward margin is constrained by a fixed barrier (which could be in the form of concrete pavements, roads or buildings). It is, thus, not difficult to foresee the possible bleak or non-existent future of mangroves with these 2 anthropogenic factors coming in play.

As much as I'd love to claim that such losses have nothing much (or nothing at all) to do with us, I'm afraid that would be too big a lie to tell. Dear you, I don't really want to know what other disasters you are capable of creating. I'm interested to know how you're going to fix the ones you have created. 

References:

  • -, D.A. Friess, J. Phelps, R.C. Leong, W.K. Lee, A.K.S Wee, Sivasothi N., R.R.Y. Oh, E.L. Webb, 2012. Mandai Mangrove, Singapore: Lessons for the Controversy of South-east Asia's Mangroves. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, -, 55- 63.
  • -, S. Sandilyan, K. Kathiresan, 2012 Mangrove Conservation: A Global Perspective. Biodiversity Conservation , 21, 3523- 3542.
  • INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE. (2014) Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis (New York Cambridge University Press)

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