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Coral reefs { October 24 2000 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://asia.cnn.com/2000/ASIANOW/southeast/10/23/indonesia.coralreefs.ap/http://asia.cnn.com/2000/ASIANOW/southeast/10/23/indonesia.coralreefs.ap/
25 percent of world's coral reefs destroyed by pollution, experts warn
October 24, 2000
Web posted at: 7:37 AM HKT (2337 GMT)
By D
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AP) -- More than a quarter of the world's coral reefs have been destroyed by pollution and global warming, experts said Monday, warning that unless urgent measures are taken, most of the remaining reefs could be dead in 20 years.
In some of the worst hit areas, such as the Maldives and Seychelles islands in the Indian Ocean, up to 90 percent of coral reefs have been killed over the past two years due to rises in water temperature.
Coral reefs play a crucial role as an anchor for most marine ecosystems, and their loss would place thousands of species of fish and other marine life at risk of extinction.
Addressing 1,500 delegates from 52 countries at the ninth International Coral Reef Symposium on the island of Bali, researchers warned that governments must urgently reverse global warming trends, cut pollution and crack down on overfishing.
"You have to go and look at the coral reefs now, as we are losing them," said Clive Wilkinson, a leading Australian scientist.
Wilkinson said that in some areas fishermen use dynamite or cyanide to catch fish, blowing the reefs apart or poisoning them. In other areas, governments pump untreated sewage and other waste directly into oceans.
But the most serious and immediate threat to the world's reefs is global warming, which causes a damaging condition known as coral bleaching. This occurs when higher water temperatures heat up the coral, causing them to expel the microscopic plants that give them their vibrant color. If the coral is not cooled, it dies.
Oceanographers say the El Nino weather pattern two years ago, which led water temperatures to rise by up to six degrees, did enormous damage to the coral reefs, some of which had been alive for up to 2.5 million years.
Australian scientist Ove Hoegh-Guldberg said 26 percent of coral reefs around the world have already been destroyed and in another 20 years, water temperatures are likely to rise to the point where corals will be sitting in a "hot soup" in which they are unable to survive.
Wilkinson said the loss of the reefs would not only be a major blow to the environment, but would also threaten the livelihood of a half billion people around the world who rely on them for food and income.
The reefs bring in an estimated $400 billion a year in fishing and tourism revenues.
Wilkinson said millions of affected people in poorer countries may not be able to find alternative sources of income and may become reliant on foreign aid.
"The world's attitude to global warming must change," he said.
While many Western countries have started to seriously address the problem, some governments in Asia have ignored it.
Indonesian scientist Rili Djohani said many regional governments cut their conservation budgets by up to 80 percent when the Asian financial crisis hit three years ago.
Indonesia's maritime affairs minister Sarwono Kusmaatmadja said half the nation's coral reefs have already died and the other half could soon follow suit.
"We don't have the resources to protect them," he said.
Indonesia, an archipelago nation of 13,000 islands, relies heavily on its colorful coral reefs to attract hundreds of thousands of tourists a year.
Valerie Paul, a professor at the University of Guam, said the loss of the coral reefs would also be a devastating blow to the medical industry, which is exploring the possibility that the marine ecosystems may unlock secrets to new medicines.
She said there are many natural chemicals in the reefs that are still to be found.
"It is like losing the rain forests all at once," Paul said.
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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