Sandra Lara Herrera: Coral Reefs

But our generation holds the last hopeful chance to save the world's coral reefs. Climate change is killing Earth's most diverse underwater ecosystems. Coral doomsday is set to occur in 2050. Now it's getting closer to 2030, meaning in this decade, only eight years from now, corals could face extinction. Now you’re aware of the impending disaster around the corner with great relief there’s still a hope. You and I have no other choice but to take urgent action and do much more if we want children born today to experience reef habitats as experts clearly state, if not, reach of the future are likely to look very different to the colorful and diverse ecosystems we are lucky to have today. First, to start off, What do you mean are corals? I'll clarify. Did you know that corals are in fact animals? I know, right? Most of us think of them as rocks or plants. And did you also know that corals are endangered animals? You may think more of pandas or some other large mammal. What doesn't come to mind, though, are the most threatened of them all. Corals. Take a look at this graph and you’ll see just how extremely vulnerable being backed up. In only the last three years, survival rates have plummeted severely. Second, what on earth is making coral reefs so bleached? Well, humans are.Rising ocean temperatures are coral reefs number one threat. The ocean acts kind of like a sponge, absorbing more than half of the heat made by human caused CO2 emissions. Then the ocean gets hotter, resulting in damaging heat waves. Corals, bleach, trying to respond and fight off all these key stresses. It’s like this. Imagine putting corals to boil in a hot pot of water. That’s why all the pictures in the news like this one show why they’re called bleached corals Can corals even get better? Why does bleaching happen? Inside of corals, the tiny microscopic album, these are the corals provide each other with what they need in order to survive, such as food and nutrients. When the ocean gets too warm, they push out their coral because they’re out because they’re too weak to give them what they need. This is the root cause of them turning white and straight and bleaching entirely. Can corals even get better? Yes, corals could recover but it takes up to a decade for even the strongest to do so. With a heat wave every couple of years due to climate change the recovery process must be started from scratch every single time. Facing the near impossible and since it is too hard to keep up, most of them die. Why are coral reef ecosystems so important for us to care about? Well, because of their vivid life, color, and most importantly to humans resources. If we lose our corals, the one billion people which depend on them for their livelihood and food supply will suffer not to mention 25% of marine biodiversity will disappear, including thousands of species which depend on coral reef ecosystems to survive. On top of all of that, we may no longer have access to the essential medicine cabinet that corals have provided us. Did you know that corals even help give up the first ever COVID treatment? Imagine what it would have been like if corals weren’t there to help us in this pandemic. We haven’t noticed what corals give us beyond the visual aspect. My point is corals will go extinct. We will lose a lot. Coral bleaching events were first noticed in the 1980s. I think that given us enough time to plan our actions already well know. Research suggests that even though world leaders signed the Paris Agreement in 2015, which was supposed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, this target is moving further out of reach and is now almost impossible. In fact, there's no safe limit to global warming for coral reefs worldwide. Now, I hope that when you think of endangered species, you think about corals, too. Remember, corals are animals just like us and it’s our turn to help them. It's humans who are responsible for this job holding the last chance to save coral reefs. And it's in our generation's hands. I wish for you to walk away with one of these three key points today. One: think about the doom and gloom scenario of coral reef extinction. Help take action by telling more people about hope for the race and watch the amazing mission further. Two: ensure climate change and environmental education reaches each and every child around the globe. Add your own voice by signing the petition to communicate to world leaders that you care. Three: Adopt a coral. This would mean corals divers planting a quarter of the ocean for you. You can then as you wish, and receive a certificate of adoption and more coral income. By the way, the next time you pass by our schools library, take a look in the four and five corridor, you'll see three Miss Coral adopted certificates hung up on the wall. This is the result of my action for the future. The exhibition in grade five. Finally, corals are believed to be the rainforests of the sea. Corals are like trees to a forest without them, corals and humans and the ocean habitat won’t survive. No the same goes for doctors using The Lorax. I speak for the trees. Well, let’s speak. All of us for the corals. Let's speak for the future generations. And not only that, but let’s speak for Earth. Let’s keep this wonderfully graceful place beautiful. I want to be able to snorkel in the future and heal coral reefs’ natural enery. Don’t you? And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a promise we must keep forever. Thank you.