SM - Ideas

Something More - Ideas

OUGD603

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Research conclusion

I Identified the main issues causing the deterioration of the coral reef these are; pollution, climate change, ocean acidification, destructive coral gathering practices, and overfishing. 

Pollution is causing an increase in the level of nitrogen in seawater, causing an overgrowth of algae, which 'smothers' reefs by cutting off their sunlight. 

Climate change is increasing the temperature of the oceans which subsequently causes coral bleaching, This warming causes corals to lose the microscopic algae that produce food that corals need. Without this algae coral also lose their coloration—a condition known as coral bleaching — because the loss of algae reveals the white color of the calcium carbonate structure underlying the polyps. Severe or prolonged bleaching can kill coral colonies or leave them more vulnerable to other threats such as infectious disease.

Ocean acidification refers to a change in ocean chemistry in response to the uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is in equilibrium with that in seawater, so when atmospheric concentrations increase so do oceanic concentrations. Increases in ocean acidity (measured by lower pH values) reduce the availability of dissolved salts and ions needed by corals to form the calcium carbonate structure. Consequently, coral growth and reef growth can be slowed, with some species affected more than others.

Destructive coral gathering practices are really effecting the coral reef because in many people's eyes coral are really desirable and they want them. This makes gathering and selling the corals a big market. The methods which are most destructive are cyanide fishing, blast or dynamite fishing, bottom trawling, and muro-ami (banging on the reef with sticks). Bottom-trawling is one of the greatest threats to cold-water coral reefs.

Overfishing affects the ecological balance of coral reef communities, warping the food chain and causing effects far beyond the directly overfished population.

Idea 1 - Pollution

Idea 1 - Climate Change (coral bleaching)

Idea 1 - Ocean acidification

Idea 1 - Destructive coral gathering

Idea 1 - Overfishing

SM - Research

Something More - Research

OUGD603

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Great barrier reef extinction

Half of the Great Barrier Reef has been bleached to death since 2016. Mass coral bleaching, a global problem triggered by climate change, occurs when unnaturally hot ocean water destroys a reef's colorful algae, leaving the coral to starve. ... They start to die off, which diminishes reef diversity.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/08/explore-atlas-great-barrier-reef-coral-bleaching-map-climate-change/#:~:text=Half%20of%20the%20Great%20Barrier%20Reef%20has%20been%20bleached%20to,leaving%20the%20coral%20to%20starve.&text=They%20start%20to%20die%20off%2C%20which%20diminishes%20reef%20diversity.

Coral Shapes

Above are some simple but effective coral shapes which, I found which could be used as the overall logo. At the beginning, I found it hard to find simple shapes of corals as often they are very detailed and twist around itself many times.

Coral Reef Issues

https://www.epa.gov/coral-reefs/threats-coral-reefs#:~:text=Local%20Threats%20to%20Coral%20Reefs&text=Coral%20reefs%20face%20many%20threats,(touching%20or%20removing%20corals).

• Physical damage or destruction from coastal development, dredging, quarrying, destructive fishing practices and gear, boat anchors and groundings, and recreational misuse (touching or removing corals).
• Pollution that originates on land but finds its way into coastal waters. There are many types and sources of pollution from land-based activities, for example:
  • Sedimentation from coastal development, urban stormwater runoff, forestry, and agriculture
    Sedimentation has been identified as a primary stressor for the existence and recovery of coral species and their habitats. Sediment deposited onto reefs can smother corals and interfere with their ability to feed, grow, and reproduce.
  • Nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous) from agricultural and residential fertilizer use, sewage discharges (including wastewater treatment plants and septic systems), and animal waste
    Nutrients are generally recognized as beneficial for marine ecosystems; however, coral reefs are adapted to low nutrient levels; so an excess of nutrients can lead to the growth of algae that blocks sunlight and consumes oxygen corals need for respiration. This often results in an imbalance affecting the entire ecosystem. Excess nutrients can also support growth of microorganisms, like bacteria and fungi, that can be pathogenic to corals.
  • Pathogens from inadequately treated sewage, stormwater, and runoff from livestock pens
    Although rare, bacteria and parasites from fecal contamination can cause disease in corals, especially if they are stressed by other environmental conditions. Coral disease occurs in healthy ecosystems, but the input of pathogen-containing pollution can exacerbate the frequency and intensity of disease outbreaks.
  • Toxic substances, including metals, organic chemicals and pesticides found in industrial discharges, sunscreens, urban and agricultural runoff, mining activities, and runoff from landfills
    Pesticides can affect coral reproduction, growth, and other physiological processes. Herbicides, in particular, can affect the symbiotic algae (plants). This can damage their partnership with coral and result in bleaching. Metals, such as mercury and lead, and organic chemicals, such as polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), oxybenzone and dioxin, are suspected of affecting coral reproduction, growth rate, feeding, and defensive responses.
  • Trash and micro-plastics from improper disposal and stormwater runoff
    Trash such as plastic bags, bottles, and discarded fishing gear (also called marine debris) that makes its way into the sea can snag on corals and block the sunlight needed for photosynthesis, or entangle and kill reef organisms and break or damage corals. Degraded plastics and microplastics (e.g., beads in soap) can be consumed by coral, fish, sea turtles, and other reef animals, blocking their digestive tracts and potentially introducing toxics.
• Overfishing can alter food-web structure and cause cascading effects, such as reducing the numbers of grazing fish that keep corals clean of algal overgrowth. Blast fishing (i.e., using explosives to kill fish) can cause physical damage to corals as well.
• Coral harvesting for the aquarium trade, jewelry, and curios can lead to over-harvesting of specific species, destruction of reef habitat, and reduced biodiversity.

The aggregate effects of these stressors can decrease resilience of the reef overall and increase susceptibility to disease and invasive species. Invasive species can create an imbalance in the biological checks and balances of a reef ecosystem.

Coral Bleaching

When water is too warm, corals will expel the algae (zooxanthellae) living in their tissues causing the coral to turn completely white. This is called coral bleaching. When a coral bleaches, it is not dead. Corals can survive a bleaching event, but they are under more stress and are subject to mortality.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_bleach.html#:~:text=When%20water%20is%20too%20warm,and%20are%20subject%20to%20mortality.

Increased ocean temperatures and changing ocean chemistry are the greatest global threats to coral reef ecosystems. These threats are caused by warmer atmospheric temperatures and increasing levels of carbon dioxide in seawater.

As atmospheric temperatures rise, so do seawater temperatures. This warming causes corals to lose the microscopic algae that produce food that corals need, placing stress on the corals. Without this algae coral also lose their coloration—a condition known as coral bleaching — because the loss of algae reveals the white color of the calcium carbonate structure underlying the polyps. Severe or prolonged bleaching can kill coral colonies or leave them more vulnerable to other threats such as infectious disease.

Other climate impacts, such as sea level rise, increased frequency and intensity of tropical storms, and altered ocean circulation patterns, can also affect coral reefs.

https://www.epa.gov/coral-reefs/threats-coral-reefs#:~:text=Local%20Threats%20to%20Coral%20Reefs&text=Coral%20reefs%20face%20many%20threats,(touching%20or%20removing%20corals).

Ocean acidification

Ocean acidification refers to a change in ocean chemistry in response to the uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is in equilibrium with that in seawater, so when atmospheric concentrations increase so do oceanic concentrations. Carbon dioxide entering seawater reacts to form carbonic acid, causing an increase in acidity.

Each year, the ocean absorbs about one-quarter of the carbon dioxide emitted from the burning of fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas). Since the Industrial Revolution, ocean acidity has increased by about 30%, a rate that is more than 10 times what has previously occurred for millions of years. Further, ocean acidity levels are expected to increase by an additional 40% above present levels by the end of this century.

Increases in ocean acidity (measured by lower pH values) reduce the availability of dissolved salts and ions needed by corals to form the calcium carbonate structure. Consequently, coral growth and reef growth can be slowed, with some species affected more than others. If acidification becomes severe, coral skeletons can actually dissolve. On a local level, nutrient enrichment due to run-off from human activities on land can also cause increased acidity in coastal waters, exacerbating the effects of ocean acidification.

https://www.epa.gov/coral-reefs/threats-coral-reefs#:~:text=Local%20Threats%20to%20Coral%20Reefs&text=Coral%20reefs%20face%20many%20threats,(touching%20or%20removing%20corals).

Coral Reef Issues (WWF)

Roughly one-quarter of coral reefs worldwide are already considered damaged beyond repair, with another two-thirds under serious threat.

Major threats to coral reefs and their habitats include:

• Climate change: Corals cannot survive if the water temperature is too high. Global warming has already led to increased levels of coral bleaching, and this is predicted to increase in frequency and severity in the coming decades. Such bleaching events may be the final nail in the coffin for already stressed coral reefs and reef ecosystems.
   
• Destructive fishing practices: These include cyanide fishing, blast or dynamite fishing, bottom trawling, and muro-ami (banging on the reef with sticks). Bottom-trawling is one of the greatest threats to cold-water coral reefs.
• Overfishing: This affects the ecological balance of coral reef communities, warping the food chain and causing effects far beyond the directly overfished population.
• Careless tourism: Careless boating, diving, snorkeling, and fishing happens around the world, with people touching reefs, stirring up sediment, collecting coral, and dropping anchors on reefs. Some tourist resorts and infrastructure have been built directly on top of reefs, and some resorts empty their sewage or other wastes directly into water surrounding coral reefs.
• Pollution: Urban and industrial waste, sewage, agrochemicals, and oil pollution are poisoning reefs. These toxins are dumped directly into the ocean or carried by river systems from sources upstream. Some pollutants, such as sewage and runoff from farming, increase the level of nitrogen in seawater, causing an overgrowth of algae, which 'smothers' reefs by cutting off their sunlight.
• Sedimentation: Erosion caused by construction (both along coasts and inland), mining, logging, and farming is leading to increased sediment in rivers. This ends up in the ocean, where it can 'smother' corals by depriving them of the light needed to survive. The destruction of mangrove forests, which normally trap large amounts of sediment, is exacerbating the problem.
• Coral mining: Live coral is removed from reefs for use as bricks, road-fill, or cement for new buildings. Corals are also sold as souvenirs to tourists and to exporters who don't know or don't care about the long term damage done, and harvested for the live rock trade.

https://wwf.panda.org/our_work/our_focus/oceans_practice/coasts/coral_reefs/coral_threats.cfm

What is coral?

Coral reefs are colonies of individual animals called polyps, which are related to sea anemones. The polyps, which have tentacles to feed on plankton at night, play host to zooxanthellae, symbiotic algae that live within their tissues and give the coral its color. The coral provides CO2 and waste products that the algae need for photosynthesis. In turn, the algae nourish the coral with oxygen and the organic products of photosynthesis. The coral uses these compounds to synthesize calcium carbonate (limestone) with which it constructs its skeleton—the coral reef.

The symbiotic relationship between corals and zooxanthellae can only exist within the narrow band of environmental conditions found in tropical and subtropical waters. The water must be clear and shallow so that the light algae need for photosynthesis can penetrate, and water temperatures must ideally remain between 23˚ and 29˚ C (77˚ to 84˚ F).

The number of coral species in each reef varies: the Great Barrier Reef off Australia has over 600 species of coral while a Caribbean reef has about 65. Today many reefs have 40 to 50 percent less coral than they did just 30 years ago.

https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/06/13/losing-our-coral-reefs/

SM - Initial Ideas

Something More - Initial Ideas
OUGD603

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Groups

- The group we chose consisted of myself, Kira, Jack, Tom, and Jess.

- As the presentation ended, I created another google meet which included all of us so we could discuss our ideas and what we found interesting about the brief and presentation

Ideas (Themes)

- Below are the initial themes we thought would be interesting

-Space Junk

-Government Corruption

-Global Warming

-Population

-People's Diets

-Screen Time

-Social Media

-Atomic Energy

-Deforestation

-Coral Reefs

-Destruction of Habitats

-90% of the rain is plastic

https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/global-issues-overview/

We also look at this website above to show you all the important global issues which are happening right now. We used this as inspiration.

We looked over the list and as a group said which ones we were more interested in and ones we wanted to look into further; below there is the final list we decide on.

-Space Junk

-Government Corruption

-Population

-Social Media

-Deforestation

-Coral Reefs

Space Junk

Kira started to write down words she was associated with space junk;

-gravity

-pressure

-darkness

-aliens

-metal

-wires

-blinking lights

Ideas

-project the logo on the side of a building

   - it could track the use and follow them around, like debris orbiting the earth

-logo used on a side of a rocket; like we have sponsored the rocket

-display and use the logo on social media; you have to bounce the signal off a satellite

-earth illustrated with satellite debris surrounding it; as the issue gets worse the more the orbit get clucked with debris.

Goverment Corruption

-Trump scale ; 0 - Trump of how bad our goverment is

-call people out

-reuse and manipulate the toxic symbol - twist and melt the logo ?

-project the symbol over pre-existing billboards - like on money heist

-implement the logo over politicians mouths 

GOT TO BE CAREFUL WITH THIS ISSUE AS IT IS VERY SENSITIVE 

Population

-implement the more than sign ( > )

-logo filling up - to show the increase of the population

-we don't have enough resources for everyone ( scale, balance or maybe math equation )

Social Media ( Messing people up )

-implement the more than sign ( > )

-dopamine addiction - c8h11no2

-chemical equation - which changes depending on how much you use your phone

    -this could be colour

    -size

    -how much of the logo is displayed

-the previous point could be linked with the data on your phone about your screen time and how much you spend on certain apps

Deforestation

-Tree with or without leaves depending on how bad the issue is

-more or fewer trees depending on how bad the issue is

Coral Reefs

-losing colour

-coral bleaching

  -caused by global warming.  - we are causing it! 

     - the heat of the water changes it

When water is too warm, corals will expel the algae (zooxanthellae) living in their tissues causing the coral to turn completely white. This is called coral bleaching. When a coral bleaches, it is not dead. Corals can survive a bleaching event, but they are under more stress and are subject to mortality.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_bleach.html#:~:text=When%20water%20is%20too%20warm,and%20are%20subject%20to%20mortality.

  -caused by chemicals in the water.  - we are causing it!

-advertise it on plastic products as well as water products

-different of water to land

-great barrier reef

-all the chemicals which cause bleaching as the logo and they grow in scale when it gets worse

-put the logo on a side of a boat and it changes colour depending on the temperature of the water.

-shape could be the outline of the great barrier reef

Starting Point

-as a group, we all came to a collective decision that the best one to do would be coral reefs as it is quite interesting and has a lot we can do with it. As well as coral is very easy to depict and identify as they often come in very unique shapes and they are natural found in very bright and vibrant colours.

-Find Issues within the coral reefs

    -4 issues

-Then think of how to depict them issues as logo through sketches.

SM - Briefing

Something More - Briefing
OUGD603

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Initial Notes

These are initial notes which I took down whilst the people at something more were presenting as well as any ideas which we thought of in our group.

Something More

- Something more is a small studio

- The project they receive is often the first thing they have done something like that which keeps it interesting and exciting. This also means they have no preconceived ideas of how the design should look or what it should follow.

- Design helps us make better decisions

- They like to collaborate with various designers and other professionals because they challenge their ideas and how they should approach the brief.

Brief

- Groups of 3-6

- 4-day briefs - hand in on Thursday 1st Septemeber 3:30

- I initially like the idea of Space Junk as I think there is so much we could do with and I think it really interesting and would want to learn more about it and see the impact it has on the climate and earth.