The prospects of saving the world's coral reefs now appear so bleak that plans are being made to freeze samples to preserve them for the future.
A meeting in Denmark took evidence from researchers that most coral reefs will not survive even if tough regulations on greenhouse gases are put in place.
Scientists proposed storing samples of coral species in liquid nitrogen.
That will allow them to be reintroduced to the seas in the future if global temperatures can be stabilized.
'Well it's the last ditch effort to save biodiversity from the reefs which are extremely diverse systems," said Simon Harding from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
According to recent research, one of the world's most important concentrations of coral - the so-called Coral Triangle in South East Asia - could be destroyed by climate change before the end of this century with significant impacts on food security and livelihoods.
-more at link-The prospects of saving the world's coral reefs now appear so bleak that plans are... more
About 600 miles west of the Ecuadorian coast sits the volcanic archipelago, which hosts a number of endemic species that largely depend on each other to survive, reported Reuters.
According to scientists, sudden and frequently changing sea temperatures and the death of coral reefs near the islands reveal the impact global warming is having on local sea life.
"The coral reefs create a habitat; they are like a forest, like the Amazon. They are home to scores of species. ... If the corals die we lose thousands of species that are associated to the coral," said German marine biologist Judith Denkinger.
"Everything is intertwined. You can't say this is land, this is sea, they are both one," Denkinger said.About 600 miles west of the Ecuadorian coast sits the volcanic archipelago, which... more
Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest living organism, is under grave threat from climate warming and coastal development, and its prospects of survival are "poor," a major new report found on Wednesday.
While the World Heritage-protected site, which sprawls for more than 345,000 square km (133,000 sq miles) off Australia's east coast, is in a better position than most other reefs globally, the risk of its destruction was mounting.
"Even with the recent management initiatives to improve resilience, the overall outlook for the Great Barrier Reef is poor and catastrophic damage to the ecosystem may not be averted," a government reef management body said in the report.
The five-yearly reef outlook report, aimed at benchmarking the health of the reef, found climate change, declining water quality from coastal runoff, development and illegal fishing were the biggest dangers to the reef.
The study echoed findings by scientists belonging to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that the Great Barrier Reef could be "functionally extinct" within decades, with deadly coral bleaching likely to be an annual occurrence by 2030.
The reef was one of the most diverse and remarkable ecosystems in the world, and populations of almost all marine species were still large, the government's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said in the report.
But some ecologically important species, such as dugongs, marine turtles, seabirds, black teatfish and some sharks had declined significantly, while coral diseases and pest outbreaks like crown-of-thorns starfish appeared to be increasing and becoming more serious.
CHALLENGE AHEAD
A separate report by the Australian Institute of Marine Science, also released on Wednesday, found ocean temperatures on northern parts of the reef had been a degree above average through winter, pointing to a bad year for coral bleaching.
"We know that a failure to act on dangerous climate change puts at risk significant places like the Great Barrier Reef and this report confirms the scale of the challenge ahead," Australia's Environment Minister Peter Garrett said.
end of excerptAustralia's Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest living organism, is under grave... more
Increasingly acidic oceans and warming water temperatures due to carbon dioxide emissions could kill off the world's ocean reefs by the end of this century, scientists warned on Monday.
The experts told a meeting in London the predicted pace of emissions means a level of 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere will be reached by 2050, putting corals on a path to extinction in the following decades.
The two dozen coral reef specialists and climate change exerts represented universities, government research offices and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
"The kitchen is on fire and it's spreading around the house," Alex Rogers of the Zoological Society of London and the International Program on the State of the Ocean, said in a statement.
"If we act quickly and decisively we may be able to put it out before the damage becomes irreversible."
Oceans absorb large amounts of CO2 emitted by the burning of fossil fuels. But scientists say the oceans are acidifying as they absorb more carbon, disrupting the process of calcification used by sea creatures to build shells as well as coral reefs.
Researchers around the world have been urging governments to take more account of such threats to the oceans in a new U.N. treaty on fighting global warming due to be agreed in Copenhagen in December.
Coral reefs -- delicate undersea structures resembling rocky gardens made by tiny animals called coral polyps -- are important nurseries and shelters for fish and other sea life.
They also protect coastlines, provide a critical source of food for millions of people, attract tourists and are potential storehouse of medicines for cancer and other diseases.
(Full article at link)Increasingly acidic oceans and warming water temperatures due to carbon dioxide... more
The world's coral reefs are in danger of dying in the next 20 years unless the world drastically cuts carbon emissions, a coalition of scientists led by Sir David Attenborough has warned.
The delicate eco systems, known as the "rainforests of the sea", support huge amounts of marine life.
But as oceans absorb carbon dioxide, they become more acidic, making it impossible for coral reefs like the Great Barrier Reef in Australia to survive. Reefs are also at greater danger of bleaching as sea temperatures warm.
Scientists gathered at the Royal Society in London yesterday to call for tougher targets for the world to cut emissions.
Sir David Attenborough, who co-chaired the meeting, said that the collapse of coral reefs meant the death of marine ecosystems.
"We must do all that is necessary to protect the key components of the life of our planet as the consequences of decisions made now will likely be forever as far as humanity is concerned," he said.
Open water absorbs around a third of the carbon dioxide in the air. At present, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 387 parts per million (ppm).
According to Alex Rogers, the scientific director of the International Programme on the State of the Oceans, the figure will reach 450 ppm in the next 20 years if the world continues to burn fossil fuels at the current rate. Once that figure is reached, the ocean will become too acidic for corals to survive.
Alongside other scientists from the Royal Society and Zoological Society of London, Mr Rogers is calling for world leaders to agree much tougher targets to cut emissions as part of any climate change deal decided in Copenhagen at the end of this year.
"Essentially coral reefs are on death row and Copenhagen is one of the last opportunities for a reprieve," he said. "Because if we carry on business as usual collapse is inevitable whereas if we decide to do something about it we can make a difference to the current trajectory."The world's coral reefs are in danger of dying in the next 20 years unless the world... more
Governments are failing to stem a rapid decline in biodiversity that is now threatening extinction for almost half the world's coral reef species, a third of amphibians and a quarter of mammals, a leading environmental group warned Thursday.
"Life on Earth is under serious threat," the International Union for Conservation of Nature said in a 155-page report that describes the past five years of a losing battle to protect species, natural habitats and geographical regions from the devastating effects of man.
IUCN, the producer of the world's Red List of endangered animals, analyzed over 44,000 species to test government pledges earlier this decade to halt a global loss in biodiversity by 2010.
That target will not be met, the Gland, Switzerland-based body said, describing the prospects of coral reefs as the most alarming. It also said slightly more amphibians, mammals and birds were in peril compared to five years ago, with species most prized by humans for food or medicine as disproportionately threatened.
"Biodiversity continues to decline and next year no one will dispute that," said Jean-Christophe Vie, the report's senior editor. "It's happening everywhere."
Vie told The Associated Press that biodiversity threats need to be highlighted and combatted, even at a time when many world leaders are preoccupied by economic recession and financial instability. Unlike markets and debts, animal extinction is an irreversible element of today's "wildlife crisis."
He urged governments to usher in major changes to society, such as reducing energy and overall consumption, redesigning cities and reassessing the environmental consequences of globalization - producing goods in one part of the world and sending them thousands of miles to be sold.
Vie said climate change only threatened to make the situation worse.Governments are failing to stem a rapid decline in biodiversity that is now... more
In just 40 years, the Caribbean's spectacular branched corals have been flattened. Research reveals that the corals have been replaced by shorter rival species — and points to climate change as at least partly to blame.
Most of the reefs have lost all the intricate, tree-like corals that until the 1970s provided sanctuary for unique reef fish and other creatures, as well as protecting coastlines by sapping the energy of waves.
Coral diversity is important for both the many species that swell on reefs and for coastal protection, says Jennifer Gill of the University of East Anglia and a member of the research team.
She and her colleagues analysed data over the past 40 years from 500 surveys of 200 Caribbean reefs. They say that the flattening process took place in two main phases. Firstly, in the late 1970s, a condition called white-band disease swept through the reefs, killing 90 per cent of the most spectacular tree-like elkhorn and staghorn corals.
The second phase, in 1998, saw many of the remaining tree-like corals being wiped out during a massive bleaching event, probably driven by global warming.
Different corals — fast-growing but short-lived "weedy" species — then took over the reefs, outcompeting most of the remaining tree-like corals. The researchers found that flat reefs now cover 75 per cent of the Caribbean, compared to just 20 per cent in the 1970s.In just 40 years, the Caribbean's spectacular branched corals have been flattened.... more
How cool to discover a spectacular new reef these days.
"GALWAY, Ireland, May 26 (UPI) -- Irish scientists say they have discovered a major coral reef off Ireland's west coast covering approximately 77 square miles in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Researchers from the National University of Ireland and the French Institute of Research for the Exploitation of the Sea, led by NUI marine ecologist Anthony Grehan, said the reef includes about 40 carbonate mounts, some rising as high as 328 feet above the sea floor.
"These are by far the most pristine, thriving and hence spectacular examples of cold-water coral reefs that I've encountered in almost 10 years of study in Irish waters," said Grehan. "There is also evidence of recent recruitment of corals and many other reef animals in the area suggesting this area is an important source of larvae supply to other areas …"
The study is part of a pan-European project funded by the European Commission to study interactions among corals, fish and fisheries.
Grehan said vulnerable marine ecosystems such as coral reefs represent one of the last untapped reservoirs of potentially useful bio-compounds that might support the development of new anti-viral or anti-bacterial pharmaceuticals. "How cool to discover a spectacular new reef these days.
"GALWAY, Ireland, May 26... more
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".The most spectacular stretch of coral reefs on the planet is in danger of collapse... more
Ministers and officials from 70 nations will gather in Indonesia on Monday for talks on protecting the world's oceans and to help set the stage for climate change talks in December.
The five-day World Ocean Conference in Manado city is being touted as a first-of-a-kind meeting on the oceans' role in mitigating climate change and on the consequences of higher temperatures such as rising seas, extinctions and food shortages.
Environment, fisheries and resources ministers are expected to agree a declaration aimed at influencing the direction of the Copenhagen talks scheduled for year end, where nations will gather to hammer out the successor to the expiring Kyoto protocol.
Organisers say they hope to expand the scope of any future climate change agreement to encompass marine environments, on which hundreds of millions of people rely for their livelihoods.
"The conference will be non-binding but it is the highest political level ocean conference done so far," said Indroyono Soesilo, the Indonesian official in charge of organising the event on Sulawesi island.
"If we are able to put oceans into world climate change policies it will be a success for us because it has never happened before.
"Because of global warming we will have sea level rises that will make some island nations disappear, so let's do something about that."
The sidelines of the conference will also see the launch of an international plan to save the Coral Triangle, an underwater ecosystem in Southeast Asia that is half the size of the United States and has been compared to the Amazon rainforest in its biodiversity.
Leaders from the six Coral Triangle Initiative nations -- Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands -- will sign a joint plan to protect the region, home to more than half the world's coral reefs.
But while organisers express optimism over the meeting, scientists say knowledge about the oceans is so limited that not much is known about how they will behave under the influence of climate change or the role they can play in absorbing carbon.
The boosting of ocean research and agreements on international sharing of data are expected to be a part of any conference declaration.
"If you talk about marine carbon issues it's still a long way to go," The Nature Conservancy's Coral Triangle Centre head Abdul Halim said.
"Unless you have at least basic scientific evidence to support your argument it's really difficult for people to argue about."
The conference comes amid a slew of gloomy studies on the possible effects of global warming.
A report in the science journal Nature last month found catastrophic sea level rises of up to three metres are a "distinct possibility" within the next century.
end of excerptMinisters and officials from 70 nations will gather in Indonesia on Monday for talks... more
This fascinating video discusses evolution, mathematics, sea slugs, corals and crocheting as presented by science writer Margaret Wertheim.This fascinating video discusses evolution, mathematics, sea slugs, corals and... more
In this illuminating talk, Richard Pyle shows us thriving life on the cliffs of coral reefs and groundbreaking diving technologies he has pioneered to explore it. He and his team risk everything to reveal the secrets of undiscovered species.In this illuminating talk, Richard Pyle shows us thriving life on the cliffs of coral... more
Coral reefs off the southeast coast of Taiwan have turned black with disease possibly due to sewage discharge, threatening fragile undersea ecosystems and tourism, a study released Friday said.
The discovery on a problem long suspected but seldom documented shows that coral is suffering widely in waters up to five meters (16.4 feet) deep and 300 meters offshore from two outlying islands, said researcher Chen Chao-lun of Taiwan's state-funded Academia Sinica.
"This is a large distribution and we had no previous information," said Chen, whose began doing research with local environmental groups in 2007. "If you snorkel, you'll see it's black. If it's all black, there won't be too many tourists."
Coral reefs, delicate undersea structures resembling rocky gardens made by tiny animals called coral polyps, are important nurseries and shelters for fish and other sea life.
They also protect coastlines, provide a critical source of food for millions of people and are potential storehouses of medicines.
Taiwan's study did not pinpoint a cause for the diseased coral, but untreated sewage may a factor, Chen said.
On Green Island, a tourism hotspot and one the sites surrounded by diseased coral, garbage and excrement are dumped into the surrounding azure waters while reefs are often plundered by coral-robbing tourists, officials and long-time divers say.
The Taiwan researchers have sent their report to the government and plan to check for problems in other offshore areas known to support coral, Chen said.
Largest Marine Reserve Declared; Home to Mariana Trench
Dina Cappiello in Washington, D.C.
Associated Press
January 6, 2009
The home of a giant land crab, a sunken island ringed by pink-colored coral, and equatorial waters teeming with sharks and other predators have been designated national marine monuments by U.S. President George W. Bush in the largest marine conservation effort in history. (See photos.)
The three areas—totaling some 195,274 square miles (505,757 square kilometers)—include the Mariana Trench and the waters and corals surrounding three uninhabited islands in the Northern Mariana Islands, Rose Atoll in American Samoa, and seven islands strung along the equator in the central Pacific Ocean.
"We should be very happy because it's the largest marine area ever protected," said Enric Sala, a marine ecologist and National Geographic fellow and emerging explorer. (National Geographic News is owned by the National Geographic Society.)
"We don't need more research to know that more of these remote intact places need to be protected," said Sala, who has helped conduct some of the few scientific surveys in the remote central Pacific islands, particularly in the pristine Kingman Reef.
"This is the only chance we have left to protect parts of the ocean that are still natural."
Palmyra Atoll, a region included in the monument, and Kingman Reef are among the most biodiverse marine ecosystems on earth, according to Suzanne Case, Hawaii director of the nonprofit the Nature Conservancy.
"At a time when positive news about our seas is rare, the designation of three new marine national monuments in the Pacific is a landmark to be celebrated," she added.
The areas harbor the highest fish biomass in the Pacific and are one of the few places still dominated by sharks and other predators, Case said in an email.
Rare Treasures
Each location harbors unique species—such as a bird that incubates its eggs in the heat of underwater volcanoes—and some of the rarest geological formations on Earth, including a sulfur pool. The only other known pool exists on Jupiter's moon Io.
All will be protected as national monuments—the same status afforded to statues and cultural sites—under the 1906 Antiquities Act. The law allows the government to immediately phase out commercial fishing and other extractive uses.
It will be the second time Bush has used the law to protect marine resources.
Two years ago, the president made a huge swath of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a national monument, barring fishing, oil and gas extraction, and tourism from its waters and coral reefs. At the time, that area was the largest conservation area in the world.
Savings Accounts
The three areas to be designated Tuesday are larger, though the decisions came with some opposition.
Northern Mariana Islands government officials and indigenous communities, for instance, initially objected to the monument designation, citing concerns about sovereignty, fishing, and mineral exploration.
Recreational fishing, tourism, and scientific research with a federal permit could still occur inside the three areas under the new law. The designations will not conflict with U.S. military activities or freedom of navigation, White House officials said.
The decisions also fell short in size and scope of what conservationists, including Sala, had hoped for.
"The bottom line is that less than a tenth of one percent of the ocean is protected," Sala said, versus 12 percent of land area locked up in reserves.
Reserves are important conservation strategies, Sala said, in that pristine environments can be thought of "savings accounts."
That's because protecting large areas allows marine life to flourish and eventually spill over into neighboring ecosystems, constantly replenishing the seas.
Christine Dell'Amore of National Geographic News contributed to this report.Largest Marine Reserve Declared; Home to Mariana Trench
Dina Cappiello in Washington,... more
"A widespread and severe coral bleaching episode is predicted to cause immense damage to some of the world’s most important marine environments over the next few months.
A report from the US Government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts severe bleaching for parts of the Coral Sea, which lies adjacent to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and the Coral Triangle, a 5.4 million square kilometre expanse of ocean in the Indo-Pacific which is considered the centre of the world’s marine life.
“This forecast bleaching episode will be caused by increased water temperatures and is the kind of event we can expect on a regular basis if average global temperatures rise above 2 degrees,” said Richard Leck, Climate Change Strategy Leader for WWF’s Coral Triangle Program.
The bleaching, predicted to occur between now and February, could have a devastating impact on coral reef ecosystems, killing coral and destroying food chains. There would be severe impacts for communities in Australia and the region, who depend on the oceans for their livelihoods."
Full article at link."A widespread and severe coral bleaching episode is predicted to cause immense damage... more
A rising carbonic acid level means a more acidic ocean.
And a more acidic ocean is bad news for coral and other sea creatures, which form their shells from calcium carbonate they extract from seawater. The more acidic the water, the more difficult it is to build the shells in the first place—as well as keeping them from dissolving.
To probe how corals are faring, marine biologist Glenn De'ath and colleagues at the Australian Institute of Marine Science in Townsville, Queensland, examined Porites coral samples stretching as far back as 1572. Because Porites lay down annual layers—like tree rings—changing environmental conditions are etched into their skeletons.
The record has not been good in recent years: Since 1990 coral have been extending and thickening by less and less each year. "The data suggest that such a severe and sudden decline in calcification is unprecedented in at least the past 400 years," the researchers wrote.
(More in full article above).A rising carbonic acid level means a more acidic ocean.
And a more acidic ocean is... more
"Scientists have reported a rapid recovery in some of the coral reefs that were damaged by the Indian Ocean tsunami four years ago. It had been feared that some of the reefs off the coast of Indonesia could take a decade to recover.
The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) found evidence of rapid growth of young corals in badly-hit areas. A spokesman said reefs damaged before the tsunami were also recovering.
Some communities were abandoning destructive fishing techniques and even transplanting corals into damaged areas, the WCS said. "This is a great story of ecosystem resilience and recovery," said Stuart Campbell, co-ordinator of the WCS's Indonesia Marine Program. "These findings provide new insights into coral recovery processes that can help us manage coral reefs in the face of climate change."
Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, a reef expert from the University of Queensland in Australia who did not take part in the study, said the findings were not surprising since corals typically recovered if not affected by fishing and coastal development.
"We are seeing similar things around the southern Great Barrier Reef where reefs that experience major catastrophe can bounce back quite quickly," the scientist told the Associated Press.""Scientists have reported a rapid recovery in some of the coral reefs that were... more
Southeast Asia's tsunami-ravaged coral reefs have bounced back with surprising speed, according to a study released Friday, four years after the deadly waves hit.Southeast Asia's tsunami-ravaged coral reefs have bounced back with surprising speed,... more
The International Union for Conservation of Nature has released a report saying the world has lost nearly one-fifth of its coral reefs. Climate change, overfishing, pollution, and invasive species are all partly to blame. The report also says coral reefs could be wiped out in 30-40 years.The International Union for Conservation of Nature has released a report saying the... more
"Reef balls" are hollow structures made of the cremated remains of the deceased mixed with concrete. After a ceremony the balls are lowered into the oceans where sea life soon begins to grip onto them and create a living breathing reef.
It is thought that after a few months you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a normal reef and one helped along into existence by a reef ball. Let it be known, that when I die, this is how I'd like to be buried. How about you?"Reef balls" are hollow structures made of the cremated remains of the deceased mixed... more
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