The coral bleaching phenomenon:-
Even though reefs cover only a tiny area of the oceans (less than 0.1 per cent) they support the survival of almost a quarter of the marine creatures and over 500 million people on the planet (Underwater Earth, 2015) who are dependent on it for food, fishery, livelihood and culture.
In the last two decades, the corals around the globe have been experiencing massive bleaching, wherein they lose their colours and turn pale / white as they are unable to support the algae within them because of changes in sea water temperatures (very high or very low), high solar irradiance (too much of light), lowering of nutrients and salinity due to too much of surface run-off or mixing of fresh water near the coast, overfishing, heavy storms or pollution (oil drilling/spilling, coral trading, chemicals in agriculture, marine activities).
Figure 1. The various stages of coral bleaching
Corals can survive without the algae for short periods and revert back to original health with the re-entrance of the algae once the sea conditions return to normal, but if the stress factors stay longer, the corals begin to starve and die. The coral reefs, eventually, collapse due to erosion. A healthy coral reef system can even resist coral bleaching, but increasing global warming and frequent episodes of bleaching weaken even the healthy reef systems.
Global Extent of Coral Bleaching and Clive Wilkinson Report:-
Mass coral bleaching and mortality has become a global phenomenon covering all oceans. The first global event was observed in 1998 due to an underwater heat wave of a great magnitude triggered by El-Nino conditions (warm current spreading from Pacific to Indian Oceans), resulting in the death of about 16 per cent of the coral reefs around the world. And before the reefs could recover fully, the second mass bleaching event occurred in 2010.
Within just 4 years, the world saw the longest mass coral bleaching ever from 2014-2017. In the Great Barrier Reef of Australia (that runs for almost 4,000 kilometers along the north-eastern coastline) which is one of the best managed marine protected areas in the world, among the 500 observed reefs, only about 4 did not experience any bleaching in 2016 (hitting about 90 per cent of the reefs, and killing between 29 – 50 per cent of the reef’s coral) (Underwater Earth, 2015).
Figure 2. Coral bleaching in various locations globally
Clive Wilkinson Report:-
The first report on the ‘Status of Coral Reefs of the World’ was published in 1998 by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, edited by Clive Wilkinson. Since then the report was published regularly (2000, 2002, 2004 and 2008) with updates on reef status in different regions and countries of the world, including- Indian Ocean, Asia and Australia, Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean, Atlantic Ocean and South America with contributions from scholars of different countries. The reports predicted that almost all the reefs would soon be coming in the threatened stage (NOAA Coral Reef Watch, 2017).
The initial report focussed more on pollution, over-fishing and other human stresses to corals, however, the increasing frequency, scale and the severity of the events led scholars to conclude that coral reefs are one of the first ecosystems where the impacts of unexpected global warming and ocean acidification are clearly visible to everyone around. Rather, these are just the beginnings of a human-ecological crises waiting to snowball and require strong protective measures to preserve the biodiversity as well as local life systems.
Coral Reefs in India:-
Coral reefs are found in the Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Gulfs of Kutch, Mannar and Khambat, Malwan Reef and Angria Bank (Maharashtra) and Netrani Island (Karnataka).
A May 2016 news report by S. Dasgupta has revealed that Indian coral reefs are experiencing massive coral bleaching and death mainly due to heat stress and population pressure, increasing inundation and making the scarce fresh water unfit for consumption, especially in low-lying atolls like- Lakshadweep (S. Dasgupta, 2016).
Figure 3. Coral Reefs in India
What is Being Done To Protect Coral Reefs?:-
There are as such no standard or strict laws to protect the reefs globally, but there are many alliances and organizations like– Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – which are involved in preventing damage to healthy reefs and restoring damaged ones through assessment, conservation and restoration programmes (that include- coral nurseries, marine protected areas and awareness campaigns) world-wide involving local communities.
In India, Panini, in her paper titled “Law and Policy for Conservation and Management of Coral Reef Areas in India”, states – the coral reefs come under the ecologically sensitive areas (Coastal Regulation Zone, CRZ-I) and Wildlife Protection Act. So, no new activities related to construction/ underwater blasting/ use of corals or sand from beaches are permitted. There is a National Committee on Wetlands, Mangroves and Coral Reefs, but it has no strict policies that stop harmful activities or pollution on the seaward side (Panini, FAO, 1997).
Immediate reductions in CO2 emissions, overfishing, sedimentation and pollution, and promoting sustainable tourism and education are the only ways to save reefs from vanishing completely.
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Steve Ovett, the famous British middle-distance athlete, won the 800-metres gold medal at the Moscow Olympics of 1980. Just a few days later, he was about to win a 5,000-metres race at London’s Crystal Palace. Known for his burst of acceleration on the home stretch, he had supreme confidence in his ability to out-sprint rivals. With the final 100 metres remaining,
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]Ovett waved to the crowd and raised a hand in triumph. But he had celebrated a bit too early. At the finishing line, Ireland’s John Treacy edged past Ovett. For those few moments, Ovett had lost his sense of reality and ignored the possibility of a negative event.
This analogy works well for the India story and our policy failures , including during the ongoing covid pandemic. While we have never been as well prepared or had significant successes in terms of growth stability as Ovett did in his illustrious running career, we tend to celebrate too early. Indeed, we have done so many times before.
It is as if we’re convinced that India is destined for greater heights, come what may, and so we never run through the finish line. Do we and our policymakers suffer from a collective optimism bias, which, as the Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman once wrote, “may well be the most significant of the cognitive biases”? The optimism bias arises from mistaken beliefs which form expectations that are better than the reality. It makes us underestimate chances of a negative outcome and ignore warnings repeatedly.
The Indian economy had a dream run for five years from 2003-04 to 2007-08, with an average annual growth rate of around 9%. Many believed that India was on its way to clocking consistent double-digit growth and comparisons with China were rife. It was conveniently overlooked that this output expansion had come mainly came from a few sectors: automobiles, telecom and business services.
Indians were made to believe that we could sprint without high-quality education, healthcare, infrastructure or banking sectors, which form the backbone of any stable economy. The plan was to build them as we went along, but then in the euphoria of short-term success, it got lost.
India’s exports of goods grew from $20 billion in 1990-91 to over $310 billion in 2019-20. Looking at these absolute figures it would seem as if India has arrived on the world stage. However, India’s share of global trade has moved up only marginally. Even now, the country accounts for less than 2% of the world’s goods exports.
More importantly, hidden behind this performance was the role played by one sector that should have never made it to India’s list of exports—refined petroleum. The share of refined petroleum exports in India’s goods exports increased from 1.4% in 1996-97 to over 18% in 2011-12.
An import-intensive sector with low labour intensity, exports of refined petroleum zoomed because of the then policy regime of a retail price ceiling on petroleum products in the domestic market. While we have done well in the export of services, our share is still less than 4% of world exports.
India seemed to emerge from the 2008 global financial crisis relatively unscathed. But, a temporary demand push had played a role in the revival—the incomes of many households, both rural and urban, had shot up. Fiscal stimulus to the rural economy and implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission scales had led to the salaries of around 20% of organized-sector employees jumping up. We celebrated, but once again, neither did we resolve the crisis brewing elsewhere in India’s banking sector, nor did we improve our capacity for healthcare or quality education.
Employment saw little economy-wide growth in our boom years. Manufacturing jobs, if anything, shrank. But we continued to celebrate. Youth flocked to low-productivity service-sector jobs, such as those in hotels and restaurants, security and other services. The dependence on such jobs on one hand and high-skilled services on the other was bound to make Indian society more unequal.
And then, there is agriculture, an elephant in the room. If and when farm-sector reforms get implemented, celebrations would once again be premature. The vast majority of India’s farmers have small plots of land, and though these farms are at least as productive as larger ones, net absolute incomes from small plots can only be meagre.
A further rise in farm productivity and consequent increase in supply, if not matched by a demand rise, especially with access to export markets, would result in downward pressure on market prices for farm produce and a further decline in the net incomes of small farmers.
We should learn from what John Treacy did right. He didn’t give up, and pushed for the finish line like it was his only chance at winning. Treacy had years of long-distance practice. The same goes for our economy. A long grind is required to build up its base before we can win and celebrate. And Ovett did not blame anyone for his loss. We play the blame game. Everyone else, right from China and the US to ‘greedy corporates’, seems to be responsible for our failures.
We have lowered absolute poverty levels and had technology-based successes like Aadhaar and digital access to public services. But there are no short cuts to good quality and adequate healthcare and education services. We must remain optimistic but stay firmly away from the optimism bias.
In the end, it is not about how we start, but how we finish. The disastrous second wave of covid and our inability to manage it is a ghastly reminder of this fact.