- VICTORIA, Seychelles (Reuters)
-- The Indian Ocean could lose most of its coral islands in the next 50
years if sea temperatures continue to rise and reefs badly damaged by global
warming do not recover, a marine scientist said Monday.
-
- Global warming triggered the death of between 50 and
98 percent of coral reefs in a region stretching from northern Mozambique
to Eritrea to Indonesia in 1998 and although there has been some recovery,
scientists remain concerned. "We have reason to believe that if climate
changes continue due to the carbon dioxide that is being pumped into the
atmosphere, the temperatures at ground level and in the oceans will go
up," Dr. Carl Lundin, head of the marine program of the Swiss-based
World Conservation Union (IUCN), said.
-
- "So virtually all the coralline islands have a decent
chance of disappearing in 50 years," Lundin told Reuters in Victoria,
the capital of the Seychelles.
-
- Coral reefs are among the most diverse and productive
communities on earth. Found in warm, clear, shallow waters of tropical
oceans worldwide, reefs have functions ranging from providing food and
shelter to fish and invertebrates to protecting the shore from erosion.
-
- Many coral reef organisms can only tolerate a narrow
range of environmental conditions and are very sensitive to damage from
environmental changes such as rising temperatures which can cause bleaching
and eventual death.
-
- Lundin said sustained warming up of ocean currents which
followed the El Nino effect in 1998 resulted in bleaching and widespread
damage to corals in the Indian Ocean.
-
- "So a very large region has been affected and an
awful lot of damage has been caused by the temperature increases which
varied from one to two to generally up to five degrees Celsius."
-
- According to Lundin, the Seychelles' coralline islands
of Amirantes, Aldabra, Bird island and Denis island which support unique
ecosystems are seriously threatened.
-
- "These islands are made of fossil reefs that have
been raised out of the water but as erosion continues, they are likely
to be gnawed away," said Lundin.
-
- Lundin said there was some coral recovery with islands
which lost up to 100 percent of their coral cover in 1998 having regained
between two and 20 percent of their cover.
-
- He attributed the gradual recovery of corals in Seychelles
to time and the lack of negative development.
-
- Copyright © 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited
without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable
for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon.
-
- http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040
510/sc_nm/environment_corals_dc_1
|
