Greenhouse effect kills one fifth of world's corals
POZNAN, Poland, (Xinhua) - The world has lost almost 20 percent of
its coral reefs due to carbon dioxide emissions, according to a report
released here Wednesday.
 The report, released by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network on
the sidelines of the Poznan talks, is trying to exert pressure on
delegates at the UN climate talks in Poznan to make progress in fighting
rising temperatures.
"If current trends in carbon dioxide emissions continue, many of the
reefs may be lost over the next 20 to 40 years, and this will have
alarming consequences for some 500 million people who depend on coral
reefs for their livelihoods," the report said.
"If nothing changes, we are looking at a doubling of atmospheric
carbon dioxide in less than 50 years," said Carl Gustaf Lundin, Head of
the global marine program of the International Union for Conservation of
Nature, one of the organizations behind the Global Coral Reef Monitoring
Network.
"As this carbon is absorbed, the oceans will become more acidic,
which is seriously damaging a wide range of marine life from corals to
plankton communities and from lobsters to seagrasses," he said.
At present, climate change is considered the biggest threat to coral
reefs. The main climate threats, such as increasing sea surface
temperatures and seawater acidification, are being exacerbated by other
threats including overfishing, pollution and invasive species.
Encouragingly, the report said 45 percent of the world's reefs are
currently healthy. Another sign of hope is the ability of some corals to
recover after major bleaching events caused by warming waters and to
adapt to climate change.
"The report details the strong scientific consensus that climate
change must be limited to the absolute minimum," said Clive Wilkinson,
Coordinator of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network.
The report also said that corals have a higher chance of survival in
times of climate change if other stress factors related to human
activity are minimized. |
