Community | May 13, 2009 | 13 comments

Fears of collapse as coral reefs feel the heat

source: http://www.enn.com/climate/article/39897

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jefftego
The most spectacular stretch of coral reefs on the planet is in danger of collapse from climate change, overfishing and pollution, according to a report being presented today at the World Oceans Conference in Indonesia.

Scientists consider the region known as the "coral triangle" to be the centre of marine life on Earth, teeming with fish and almost one-third of the world's coral reefs. Covering 1 per cent of the planet from South-East Asia to the Pacific, the area also supports about 100 million people.

But in the past 40 years, 40 per cent of the coral reefs and coastal mangroves in the coral triangle have been lost because of pollution, coastal development and overfishing, said a University of Queensland professor, Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, who led the study commissioned by WWF.

"It's an astounding amount," Professor Hoegh-Guldberg said. "At the moment the coral reefs are disappearing at about 1 to 2 per cent a year. You don't have to be a brain surgeon to see that within 40 years we could lose the rest. This may sound alarming but this is not alarmist. This is what we are probably going to experience if we don't get our act together".
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13 comments // Fears of collapse as coral reefs feel the heat

  • SHAWN_RITTIMAN
  • islek
  • chastali
    • 0
      chastali  

    • That was the most insightful thing I've heard in a while... Being a fan of "after dark" fractiles myself. My kid has totally bought into the catholic NON BIRTH CONTROL thing. even though I've reassured her that even devout Catholic's don't allow the church in their bedrooms... It's so far beyond explaining the crusades and all the damage the hierarchy of the church has done, etc. Help me revive my hippy child Please!!!!!

    • 2 years ago
  • AveryMoore
    • 0
      AveryMoore  

    • So I'm gawking at ras_melenik's undersea Coral shot thinking - "Damn! That's as gorgeous as a fractal!" when it hits me....

      A fractal can form a shape that may actually look exactly like something in the natural world. Especially coastlines. That's nice.

      But a fractal informs us of a real thing in much the same way that a company' accounting ledgers and financial statements resemble it's internal states -- of decay, panic, paranoia, interdepartmental tribalistic warfare, and a weekend resting state of semi-permanent trauma.

      That coral up there however is Real. And i just tried to flatter it by comparing it to something contrived.

      Note to self. Prefer the real, more often. The contrived can get along without us.

    • 2 years ago
  • ras_menelik
  • AveryMoore
  • thefatbear
    • 0
      thefatbear  
    • AveryMoore:

      Avery, thanks for sharing what you just learned in your 12th grade math class with us. Fascinating.
      If you find a link that explains how to tie a shoe, can send that along as well? Thanks.

    • 2 years ago
  • AveryMoore
  • chastali
    • 0
      chastali  

    • OMG this really is so very sad, My daughter keeps reproducing at a rate far beyond what this planet can support, how do I stop her?

    • 2 years ago
  • aquamammal
    • 0
      aquamammal  

    • Read about the giant plastic trash islands in the pacific oceans twice the size of texas.

      Turn off the TV, try to slow your life down materially.

      XVX for life, R.A.S.H. 'til death.

    • 2 years ago
  • ras_menelik
    • 0
      ras_menelik  
    • Image

    • Delicate Partnership Between Coral And Algae Threatened By Global Warming

      ScienceDaily (Mar. 25, 2008) — Over two hundred million humans depend for their subsistence on the fact that coral has an addiction to ‘junk food’ - and orders its partners, the symbiotic algae, to make it.

      click for more..........

    • 2 years ago
  • wildoaklane0
  • masterzip
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