« Wednesday Gumpagraph | Main | Staying The Course »

October 25, 2006

World's Coral Rapidly Dying

Environment

60% of the world's coral may be gone in 25 years. AP:

Researchers fear more than half the world's coral reefs could die in less than 25 years and say global warming may [be] at least partly to blame.

Sea temperatures are rising, weakening the reefs' resistance to increased pollutants, such as runoff from construction sites and toxins from boat paints. The fragile reefs are hosts to countless marine plants and animals.

"Think of it as a high school chemistry class," said Billy Causey, the Caribbean and Gulf Mexico director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"You mix some chemicals together and nothing happens. You crank up the Bunsen burner and all of a sudden things start bubbling around. That's what's happening. That global Bunsen burner is cranking up." [...]

Last year's coral loss in the Caribbean waters supports predictions that 60 percent of the world's coral could die within a quarter century, said Tyler Smith of the University of the Virgin Islands.

"Given current rates of degradation of reef habitats, this is a plausible prediction," Smith said.

More than 47 percent of the coral in underwater study sites covering 31 acres around the U.S. Virgin Islands died after sea temperatures exceeded the norm for three months in 2005, said Jeff Miller, a scientist with the Virgin Islands National Park. [...]

Up to 30 percent of the world's coral reefs have died in the last 50 years, and another 30 percent are severely damaged, said Smith, who studies coral health in the U.S. Virgin Islands and collaborates with researchers globally. [...]

The researchers said global warming was a potential cause of the abnormally high sea temperatures but was not the only suspect in the reefs' demise.

What causes disease in coral can be hard to pinpoint and could be a combination of things. Other threats include silt runoff from construction sites, which prevents the coral from getting enough sunlight, and a record increase in fleshy, green algae, which competes with coral for sunlight.

"Climate change is an important factor that is influencing coral reefs worldwide," said Mark Eakin, director of NOAA's Coral Reef Watch. "It adds to the other problems that we are having." [Emphasis added]

This is the sort of thing that should be front page news all over the world. But because it's happening in (relatively) slow motion, it barely gets noticed. In planetary terms, however, a quarter century is the blink of an eye. For 60% of the planet's coral to disappear that quickly, we have to be skating on very thin ice indeed. How many dead canaries in the coal mine will it take to get our attention?

Posted by Jonathan at October 25, 2006 09:45 AM  

Comments

Even with all the global warming discussions (mildly) hitting the airwaves recently, there is hardly a hint of sense of urgency in the mainstream. This is serious -- our biosphere is starting to die -- and no one mainstream talks about its true seriousness. We're in trouble.

Posted by: PeakEngineer at October 26, 2006 09:11 AM

You're right PeakEngineer, we're in trouble but we're in trouble for a lot more reasons than lack of coverage. Getting off fossil fuels in the time needed to skirt massive environmental impact will require more than awareness. It will require leaders of all industrialized nations to take swift action and work together. I believe the arguments being made that moving to alternative energies is economically sound, but I often wonder if economics is going to get in the way of the needed swiftness for this kind of massive change.

To top it off we're undecided on the best way to proceed. There are lot's of good arguments being made for wind farms, and solar is advancing along with better batteries. We're not sure if growing ethanol will be truly cost effective, and some people are still holding onto hydrogen fuel cells. On top of that Jonathan has previously pointed out that humans are not designed to take swift action to seemingly slow change - we're designed for clear and present danger, fight or flight. In addition to that I believe the changes needed are going to require a less cushy lifestyle, something most people are not willing give up.

It is very possible that the human race is about to be challenged in an unprecedented and dramatic way.

Posted by: Jeff at October 30, 2006 12:54 AM