Many people think that it is important to protect the environment because they know it is part of earth and that they want to be able to share the cool landscapes with their kids and grandkids someday. What many fail to realize is how beneficial the environment is to their everyday lives. The environment benefits them through economics, the food they eat, and the protection it provides. In this post, I will be focusing on the importance of mangroves, coral reefs, and seagrass beds to the infrastructure on the coastlines as they serve as a highly effective storm barrier.
In the Frost Science Museum in Miami there is a hurricane simulator game. Here, you are able to choose between protecting your building with different amounts of coral reefs, mangroves, and manmade hurricane barriers. Factors such as budget, ecotourism ratings, and neighborly ratings have an influence on the outcome. The more damage, the less budget you have for the next round due to repairs. While this is just a game, it is also extremely accurate to real life. The results of the game showed that the combination of purely coral reefs and mangroves was much cheaper and more effective than less of the two and more man made hurricane barriers.
With Southern Florida being so exposed to the coastal storms, these natural barriers are key to the Keys (lol) from preventing the waves from reaching the shoreline. The issue with the storm barriers is that they are preventing the waves when they are already at the shoreline, where the coral reefs and the mangroves help decrease the wave velocity before it even reaches the infrastructures. The mangroves are also very important because they help filter the water and create a vast ecosystem https://www.floridastateparks.org/learn/mangroves-florida-keys-overseas-heritage-trail#:~:text=In%20the%20Florida%20Keys%20the,careful%20not%20to%20disturb%20them. With the storm intensity and frequency increasing over the past few years, it is especially important to keep the mangroves healthy so that they can function properly as storm barriers. After seeing the mangroves in person now, it makes me want to protect them even further. They are stunning and are home to so many unique species that would not survive without the specific conditions of this environment. https://www-sciencedirect com.ezproxy.stockton.edu/science/article/pii/S0272771421003668
I am so glad you decided to share this topic! I wish more people understood how important mangroves are to their environment, protection from storms being a very big one. I am so upset I didn't get the chance to play this game. I definitely want to visit this museum again, and the first thing I want to do is see if I can be successful in this game. Hopefully after learning so much about this topic, I can be.
ReplyDeleteLike Alyssa, I too am disappointed that I didn't get the chance to turn back and play this game at the Frost Museum. Just like we saw here in New Jersey when Hurricane Sandy hit our coast, the towns that had robust dunes that were chock full of healthy grasses and coastal plants fared the best when the storm surge caused the ocean to encroach on coastal towns. Flooding was at a minimum in those areas whereas parts of LBI and other shore towns were washed away completely in areas because they had little to no natural protection from the ocean. Natural coastal protection in the form of native coastal and marine plants, along with reefs and untouched barrier islands, is the best protection our coasts have at successfully weathering coastal storms and storm surges.
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