Independent UK: Coral reefs 'will be gone by end of the century'

[marmar]

Coral reefs 'will be gone by end of the century'
They will be the first entire ecosystem to be destroyed by human activity, says top UN scientist

By Andrew Marszal
Sunday, 11 September 2011


Coral reefs are on course to become the first ecosystem that human activity will eliminate entirely from the Earth, a leading United Nations scientist claims. He says this event will occur before the end of the present century, which means that there are children already born who will live to see a world without coral.

The claim is made in a book published tomorrow, which says coral reef ecosystems are very likely to disappear this century in what would be "a new first for mankind – the 'extinction' of an entire ecosystem". Its author, Professor Peter Sale, studied the Great Barrier Reef for 20 years at the University of Sydney. He currently leads a team at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health.

The predicted decline is mainly down to climate change and ocean acidification, though local activities such as overfishing, pollution and coastal development have also harmed the reefs. The book, Our Dying Planet, published by University of California Press, contains further alarming predictions, such as the prospect that "we risk having no reefs that resemble those of today in as little as 30 or 40 more years".

"We're creating a situation where the organisms that make coral reefs are becoming so compromised by what we're doing that many of them are going to be extinct, and the others are going to be very, very rare," Professor Sale says. "Because of that, they aren't going to be able to do the construction which leads to the phenomenon we call a reef. We've wiped out a lot of species over the years. This will be the first time we've actually eliminated an entire ecosystem." ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/coral-reefs-will-be-gone-by-end-of-the-century-2352742.html

[xchrom]

1. recommend

[GliderGuider]

2. "Faster than expected" => "Gone by 2050"

It's always best to be overly pessimistic. That way you get more pleasant surprises than nasty ones. :evilgrin:

The only reality we have is the present moment - the past is instantly out of reach, the future is forever unknowable. Love your kids, smile at strangers, tend a garden, clean up your shit. Chop wood, carry water. Destiny will take care of itself.

[Azooz]

3. WikiLeaks Australia: Great Barrier Reef safeguards secretly cut to please US, Singapore

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/reef-safeguard-cut-back-20110911-1k4b3.html

The Gulf oil spill, Fukushima (sp) - big biz does not have to cover environment costs - pollution is profitable.