According
to a team of scientists from Australia’s Southern Cross University,
warming ocean waters have imperiled coral reefs in Lord Howe Island
Lagoon, the world’s southernmost such ecosystem, This year has seen the
hottest, driest, most cloudless January in recorded history, and Dr.
Peter Harrison, who
led a survey of the reefs east of Sydney said
that the two degree Celsius rise in temperature since 1993 has
endangered the reefs as well as a sea anemone that is home to a rare
type of fish.
As such overheating causes the coral to expel
crucial algae that give them their color, a soon return to normal
temperatures could allow the reefs to survive but only after decades of
recovery.
Dr. Harrison explained that global warming is behind
these changes as he stated. “It's exactly what you predict from warming
seas. This is a warning of likely future increases of stress on this
world's southernmost reef.”
Dr. Harrison and colleagues at
Southern Cross University, we appreciate your detailed observations of
the imperiled coral reefs. Our prayers that all are motivated to
speedily adopt sustainable lifestyles that preserve the delicately
interconnected life on our planet.
During a November 2008
interview with Ireland’s East Coast Radio FM, Supreme Master Ching Hai
reiterated a concern she has often expressed about the preciousness of
coral reefs as part of the biosphere affected by global warming.
Supreme Master Ching Hai:
Now, the coral reefs are there for some reason. See, there are many
factors that affect coral reefs, like coastal development, water
pollution, changing sea water temperature because of global warming.
Some scientists predict that most of the coral reefs could disappear in the near future if global warming increases.
Coral
reefs are just like the forest on land. They are the protectors of
100-plus countries’ coastlines against storm surges and hurricanes. They
are the protectors. And they are also the supporters of over 25% of all
marine species.
So you see how important it is. And there are
many more things that we have not discovered about the benefits of coral
reef and marine life. We must protect a living and healthy sea, as it
relates to our living and healthy self.
The solution is vegetarian diet
http://www.france24.com/en/20100324-climate-change-puts-australian-reef-knife-edge http://www.scu.edu.au/research/whales/index.php/14/ http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/pacbeat/stories/201003/s2855135.htm http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20102603-20767-2.html