Climate change threatens reefs around the world. But coral bleaching events are typically not caused by heat alone: They occur when heat hits a reef already made vulnerable by pre-existing “land-sea impact.”
Civil Beat will increase public understanding of land-sea impacts on Hawaiʻi's reefs, especially around cesspools and urban fires; and will cover initiatives to bring Native Hawaiians and Indigenous knowledge into the marine science workforce.
The 2023 Maui fires may have damaged reefs by causing toxic runoff. This was the first time an urban conflagration occurred beside a reef, but more may follow as climate change increases the frequency of fires. Civil Beat will report what marine scientists have learned about how fires damage reefs and how reefs can be healed and protected in the future.
Cesspool runoff sickens reefs and makes them vulnerable to bleaching. Civil Beat will use data from Hawaiʻi County, which has nearly 50K cesspools, to illustrate the problem—and will examine why the county allows development on areas without sewer lines.
