A new report
representing
a three-year project led
by US-based World
Resources Institute warns
that the world's
coral reefs could be
95% gone by 2050
without urgent action
to halt global warming,
overfishing
and other harms.
The report “Reefs
at Risk Revisited,”
representing
a collaboration of
more than 20 research
and conservation
organizations, examines
in much greater detail the
original “Reefs at Risk”
report written in 1998.
In the 13 years
since the first study,
the researchers have
found that the reef area
at risk of destruction
has increased by nearly
one-third, with one of
its biggest threats
to survival being
exploitative fishing.
Especially damaging are
fishing methods such as
dynamite that cause
widespread destruction,
resulting in increasingly
grave imbalances
to coral reefs and their
surrounding ecosystems.
Other threats to the reefs
are warming waters
from climate change,
which cause
coral bleaching;
ocean acidification from
excessive carbon dioxide
absorption, and
contamination due to
agricultural runoff.
With experts such as
Dr. Jane Lubchenco ,
head of the US
National Oceanic
Atmospheric Agency,
(NOAA) saying that the
report reminds the public
of the urgent need
for the reefs'
greater protection, lead
author Lauretta Burke,
a senior associate at WRI
stated that a little effort
can go a long way
toward restoring
local areas.
Finally, Dr. Mark Spalding,
a senior marine scientist
with The Nature
Conservancy, cautioned
against inaction, saying,
“…If we don't learn
from these successes,
then I think that
in 50 years' time,
most reefs will be gone -
just banks of
eroding limestone,
overgrown with algae
and grazed by a small
variety of small fish.”
Many thanks,
World Resources
Institute and all
researchers involved
in producing this
detailed report showing
how human actions
could drive coral reefs
to extinction.
May we quickly change
our actions to assist
all the fragile yet vital
marine ecosystems
in being fully restored.
During a November 2008
interview with Ireland's
East Coast Radio FM,
Supreme Master Ching Hai
spoke about
the importance of
the imperiled coral reefs
as well as
the way we could
effectively save them.
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.
We must protect
a living and healthy sea,
as it relates to our
living and healthy self.
The solution is
vegetarian diet.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12530439
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/feb/23/coral-reef-report-dying-danger
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/all-coral-reefs-extinct-by-2050/story-fn6s850w-1226011067921
http://www.france24.com/en/20110223-worlds-coral-reefs-risk-becoming-extinct-climate-change-pollution-environment
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-02-coral-network-asia-pac-fish-stocks.html
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