marine diseases
Over the past few decades there has been a global increase in reports of diseases affecting marine organisms, including corals, turtles, sharks, dolphins and many others. The marine environment is threatened by pollution, overfishing and habitat destruction, and climate change is adding further pressure on already stressed ecosystems.
Sewage is particularly harmful to coral reefs, and the pathogens and chemicals it contains have been described as a toxic cocktail for corals. A bacterium found in human sewage called Serratia marcescens has been found to cause white pox disease in the once widespread, but now threatened, elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata). Outbreaks of this disease killed more than 70 percent of elkhorn corals in the Florida Keys. Elkhorn coral was once the dominant species on shallow reefs across the Caribbean and is currently the main focus of regional coral restoration efforts. Nutrients found in sewage also damage coastal ecosystems by promoting algal growth and causing eutrophication of shallow protected bays and lagoons.
References:
Yvonne Baskin (2006) Sea Sickness: The Upsurge in Marine Diseases, BioScience, Volume 56, Issue 6, 1 June 2006, Pages 464–469, https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2006)56[464:SSTUIM]2.0.CO;2
Justine Hauscheer. Sewage Pollution: A Significant Threat to Coral Reefs. 2015.
https://blog.nature.org/science/2015/06/08/sewage-pollution-great-threat-coral-reefs/
Kaczmarsky, L, Draud, M, and Williams, E. 2005. Is there a relationship between proximity to sewage effluent and the prevalence of coral disease? Caribbean Journal of Science. Caribbean Journal of Science, Vol. 41, No. 1, 124-137, 2005
IPCC, 2019: Summary for Policymakers. In: IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, V. Masson-Delmotte, P. Zhai, M. Tignor, E. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Nicolai, A. Okem, J. Petzold, B. Rama, N.M. Weyer (eds.)]. https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/chapter/summary-for-policymakers/
