Climate change causes unprecedented coral bleaching. 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.htmlEuropean Union seeks further forest preservation. The Conference on the Protection of Forests, organized jointly by the European Commission and Spain’s Ministry of Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs, was held on April 6 and 7 in Valsaín, Spain.
Attended by ministers and other concerned parties from the 27 member states, the meeting focused on a European Union Green Paper on Forest Protection and Information, from which discussions emerged about updating existing policies.
With forests that cover 176 million hectares, or more than 42% of the European Union’s territory, goals included finding ways to better sustain these ecosystems that both mitigate climate change and also offer socio-economic benefits to the two million people employed in forest-related activities.
The conference culminated in a consensus approval of the Valsaín Declaration, which recommends increased coordination among member states to promote better information exchange as well as further measures to prevent wildfires, deforestation and desertification.
European Commission, Spain and all attendees, we laud your diligent efforts to protect the vital lungs of our Earth. May our respect and care for the verdant trees lead to actions that preserve all life on our shared planetary home.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/317542,eu-to-coordinate-forest-protection-policies.html http://www.balkans.com/open-news.php?uniquenumber=53465 http://english.cri.cn/6966/2010/04/07/1721s561552.htm http://www.nieuwsbank.nl/en/2010/04/07/Q011.htm http://euroalert.net/en/news.aspx?idn=9724Extra NewsSpeaking at a global warming meeting in Ethiopia, US researchers call for increased foreign investment to assist in adaptation measures that will lessen Africa’s food shortages and help mitigate climate-related diseases such as malaria and meningitis.
http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=63038Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture announces a two-year ban on fishing in the Sea of Galilee to help restore the ancient waters and its devastated populations of fish.
http://www.pakistannews.net/story/619603 http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/04/03/Fishing-banned-at-Sea-of-Galilee/UPI-56681270325608/Leading experts at China's National Climate Center confirm that the drought currently affecting 18 million residents in the nation’s southwest is due to the global warming effects of reduced rain and higher temperatures.
http://english.cri.cn/6909/2010/03/28/189s559753.htmAn article in the peer-reviewed journal “Oceanography” concludes that the 2007 UN assessment of climate change is now considered an underestimate, as even conservative calculations now forecast a dangerous 2.4 degree Celsius minimum rise in global temperatures.
http://carbon-based-ghg.blogspot.com/2010/03/world-policymakers-have-underestimated.html http://www.tos.org/oceanography/issues/issue_archive/issue_pdfs/23_1/23-1_greene.pdf