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Coral
Reefs in Immediate Danger of Obliteration
Belize
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In 1998 a mass die-off of coral off of the nation Belize occurred.
Scientists say this was the result of global warming and the El Nino climate
phenomenon. This is the first mass die-off of coral in over 3,000
years in the Caribbean. This research is from Smithsonian Institution and
the Dauphin Island Sea Laboratory in Alabama and is reported in the
publication Nature. The researchers used radiocarbon dating on 12
coral cores to determine historical events on the reefs. No similar
bleaching of this magnitude has happened before in the past 3,000
years.
"There is growing
concern that global climate change is degrading coral reef ecosystems, with
coral mortality increasing as a result of bleaching and emergent diseases:
our results from Belize appear to justify this concern," said Richard
Aronson of the Dauphin Island Sea Laboratory in Alabama, US.
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Bleached Coral
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Bleached Coral
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Fiji
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In
March 2000, above-average sea temperatures gave rise to widespread
bleaching along the southern coastline Fiji. "This is more evidence of
the increased frequency of bleaching events that are the result of global
warming," said Gregor Hodgson, founder of Reef Check, a volunteer
organization that provides an annual survey of coral reefs. Reef Check is
made up of 1,500 volunteer divers and marine scientists .They survey 250
reefs in more than 50 countries around the world in an annual report.
Hodgson said bleaching has occurred in approximately 65 percent of Fiji's
reefs. About 15 percent of them are dead.
In the annual report from Reef Check, it is reported that important
species such as lobster, grouper and sea cucumbers that should be indigenous to the reefs surveyed around the world
are missing. Without such
algae-eating creatures, algae becomes so dominant it overwhelms the
ecosystem. After a devastating year of bleaching in 1998 many reefs have
made a nice recovery in 1999. But they are very vulnerable and any major
bleaching event could be devastating.
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Bleached Coral
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Off
The Coast of Kenya Indian Ocean
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Coral core samples taken off the coast of Kenya have been tested and have
shown that the water temperatures in the area were at the highest levels in
over 200 years.This is from a report published in Science magazine by
researchers, Julia Cole of the University of Arizona, Robert Dunbar of Stanford
University, Nyawira Muthiga of the Kenya Wildlife Service and Tim McClanahan
of the Wildlife Conservation Society. The researchers tested sample from
many reefs along the coast.
"One new piece of information the long-term perspective gives us is
that the temperature in the region over the last decade was warmer than
during the past two centuries," said Cole. "There are not many
records of actual ocean temperatures, so adding ocean measurements to the
pool, that's one more piece of information that makes a strong case
something unusual is going on."
Tanzania just south of
Kenya is compounding the situation in the area by it's rampant pollution .Tanzania's
pollution includes industrial wastes discharged into the marine environment,
pesticides, fertilizers and sewage carried by rain water or rivers from
surrounding villages and farms, discharges from ships, deliberate
poisoning of fish to increase catches, and deliberate puncturing of oil pipe
lines. Also the destruction by dynamite of the coral reefs and breaking up
of protective rocks along the sea for gravel which the culprits use as
building material is occurring.
Global
Warming and pollution are a deadly reality for coral reefs.
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X-Ray of Coral Core Sample
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