International marine scientists have said that coral reefs across Indian Ocean, including reef in Sri Lanka, are dying; the team has highlighted the urgency of controlling global carbon emissions.
The reefs are dying following a bleaching event that extends from the Seychelles in the west to Sulawesi and the Philippines in the east and include reefs in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and many sites in western and eastern Indonesia.
"It is certainly the worst coral die-off we have seen since 1998. It may prove to be the worst such event known to science," said Dr Andrew Baird of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook Universities. So far around 80 percent of Acropora colonies and 50 per cent of colonies from other species have died since the