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Immediate Action Needed To Save Corals From Climate Change
Terra Daily ^ | 12/14/2007 | Staff Writers

Posted on 12/14/2007 8:41:13 AM PST by cogitator

The journal Science has published a paper that is the most comprehensive review to date of the effects rising ocean temperatures are having on the world's coral reefs. The Carbon Crisis: Coral Reefs under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean Acidification, co-authored by seventeen marine scientists from seven different countries, reveals that most coral reefs will not survive the drastic increases in global temperatures and atmospheric CO2 unless governments act immediately to combat current trends.

The paper, the cover story for this week's issue of Science, paints a bleak picture of a future without all but the most resilient coral species if atmospheric CO2 levels continue on their current trajectory. Marine biodiversity, tourism and fishing industries and the food security of millions are at risk, the paper warns. Coral reef fisheries in Asia currently provide protein for one billion people and the total net economic value of services provided by corals is estimated to be $30 billion.

Dr. Bob Steneck, of the University of Maine and co-author of the paper, said the time was right for international leaders to commit to meaningful action to save the world's coral reefs: "The science speaks for itself. We have created conditions on Earth unlike anything most species alive today have experienced in their evolutionary history. Corals are feeling the effects of our actions and it is now or never if we want to safeguard these marine creatures and the livelihoods that depend on them."

Scientists have long thought that the effects of climate change and the resulting acidification of the oceans spells trouble for reefs. Coral skeletons are made of calcium, and reef development requires plenty of carbonate ions to build these skeletons, a process called calcification. When carbon dioxide is absorbed in the ocean, the pH level drops, along with the amount of carbonate ions, slowing the growth of coral reefs.

Atmospheric CO2 levels are currently at 380 parts per million (ppm) and the paper's authors, members of the Coral Reef Targeted Research and Capacity Building for Management Program (CRTR), calculate that once levels reach 560ppm, the calcification process could be reduced by up to 40 percent. Recent science also suggests that by 2100 the oceans will be so acidic that 70 percent of the habitat for deep-water corals, once considered relatively safe from the effects of climate change, will be uninhabitable.

Ocean acidification is just one example of the threats corals are facing. Bleaching, a process that is triggered when summer sea temperatures rise above normal for weeks at a time, causes corals to expel the algae that gives them their colour and nutrients. This phenomenon killed 16 percent of reef-building corals in 1997, according to the paper's authors. Destructive fishing methods, oil and gas exploration and pollution have also contributed to the global decline of coral reefs, with 20 percent already destroyed and another 50 percent threatened or verging on collapse in just the past few decades.

Consumer demand has also placed corals at risk. Popular products include coral jewelry, home decor items and live animals used in home aquaria. Corals grow so slowly it can take decades for them to recover, if at all. Catches of precious red corals, the most valuable of all coral species, provide a striking example of how demand for a fashion item can decimate a species. Red coral populations have plummeted 89 percent in the past two decades. Conscientious companies such as Tiffany and Co. removed real coral from their product lines over five years ago.

Fernanda Kellogg, president of The Tiffany and Co. Foundation, said, "Tiffany and Co. is committed to obtaining precious materials in ways that are socially and environmentally responsible. We decided to stop using real coral in our jewelry and feel that there are much better alternatives that celebrate the beauty of the ocean without destroying it."

Yet there is hope for corals and the life that depends on them. Scientists are calling for a reduction of carbon emissions to ensure corals' survival. It is also vitally important to reduce local pressures on corals such as overfishing, removal for consumer items, and pollution. If these local pressures are addresssed, coral populations will be stronger and will have a better chance of surviving climate change. Tiffany and Co. is forming new partnerships with fashion designers, scientists and conservation organizations to raise awareness of the urgent need for coral conservation.

Dawn M. Martin, president of SeaWeb, said, "Corals belong in the ocean, not in our homes or in our jewelry boxes. Consumers and the fashion industry can play an important role in the ocean's recovery by simply avoiding purchases of red and other corals. These jewels of the sea are simply too precious to wear."

In 2008, scientists, conservationists and governments will mobilize around the world to celebrate the International Year of the Reef (IYOR), a worldwide initiative to raise awareness of the importance of corals and coral reefs. The 11th International Coral Reef Symposium will be held July 7-11, 2008, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Over 2,500 attendees from academic, government and conservation organizations are expected to attend to discuss the latest coral science and its implications for the survival of these international treasures.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS: acidityhoax; agw; climate; coral; globalwarming; globalwarminghoax; greennewdeal; marinebiology; oceans; panicporn; warming
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This adds to the current body of knowledge regarding the endangered status of the world's coral reefs.
1 posted on 12/14/2007 8:41:15 AM PST by cogitator
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To: cogitator

bookmark


2 posted on 12/14/2007 8:44:42 AM PST by Pelham (No Deportation, the new goal of the Amnesty Republicans)
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To: cogitator
"We have created conditions on Earth unlike anything most species alive today have experienced in their evolutionary history.

The extraordinary thing is that people can actually say stuff like this with a straight face.

3 posted on 12/14/2007 8:45:11 AM PST by denydenydeny (Expel the priest and you don't inaugurate the age of reason, you get the witch doctor--Paul Johnson)
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To: cogitator

Read Creichton’s “State of Fear” if you want to find out about the environazi’s tactics. This is right out of that book.


4 posted on 12/14/2007 8:45:56 AM PST by aquila48
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To: cogitator

What’s a mutha to do?


5 posted on 12/14/2007 8:46:55 AM PST by boomop1 (there you go again)
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To: cogitator

If they’re that fragile then who needs them.


6 posted on 12/14/2007 8:47:11 AM PST by GulfBreeze (Support America! Vote for Duncan Hunter!)
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To: cogitator

CO2! Wow, lets all hold our breath until we die.


7 posted on 12/14/2007 8:47:24 AM PST by hflynn ( Soros would not make any sense even if he spelled his name backwards)
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To: cogitator

So how exactly do we save the coral reefs from the natural cycle of warming that follows the previous cycle of cooling? What is their plan to stop the Earth from recovering from the last Ice Age?

How arrogant to think that in the four billion year history of this planet, with its wide range of high and low temperatures, the Earth’s natural, optimal temperature just happens to be the one they’re experiencing right now...and that they are powerful enough to change it by simply using different light bulbs.


8 posted on 12/14/2007 8:51:13 AM PST by VirginiaConstitutionalist (Hold on, Hank Williams, Jr. I am not yet adequately prepared for some football.)
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To: cogitator
International Year of The Reefer

Sounds like something out of a Cheech and Chong movie LOL. I'm about to start tearing up from laughter. I can't take this.

9 posted on 12/14/2007 8:52:00 AM PST by GulfBreeze (Support America! Vote for Duncan Hunter!)
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To: aquila48
Read Creichton’s “State of Fear” if you want to find out about the environazi’s tactics. This is right out of that book.

I didn't realize that. So you think that the coral reefs are actually in great shape?

10 posted on 12/14/2007 8:55:50 AM PST by cogitator
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To: VirginiaConstitutionalist
So how exactly do we save the coral reefs from the natural cycle of warming that follows the previous cycle of cooling?

That was over 10,000 years ago. Holocene temperatures have been very stable.

What is their plan to stop the Earth from recovering from the last Ice Age?

The last vestiges of the LIA may have persisted into the early 1900s.

And temperatures are one thing; corals are also imperiled by ocean acidification.

11 posted on 12/14/2007 8:58:03 AM PST by cogitator
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To: denydenydeny
The extraordinary thing is that people can actually say stuff like this with a straight face.

These whacks really need to get it all on the same page. I was watching (Well, it was on) a show on Discovery/History/TLC about the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. On the one hand it was all about Global Warming(TM) and how it was affecting the reef, but they failed to stop the mention of the last Ice Age, where sea levels were down 300+ feet and the reef was completely out of the water and DEAD.

Of course, when the levels rose to today's levels the currents brought in more animals to populate the reef and SURPRIZE! It was back again.

Gone yesterday, here today, gone tomorrow? So what? Nature has it's ways and we aren't separate from them we are part of them.

12 posted on 12/14/2007 8:58:04 AM PST by kAcknor ("A pistol! Are you expecting trouble sir?" "No miss, were I expecting trouble I'd have a rifle.")
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To: VirginiaConstitutionalist

“So how exactly do we save the coral reefs from the natural cycle of warming that follows the previous cycle of cooling?”

i’m currently looking for a project and would like to volunteer myself to investigate this tropical disaster. all i humbly ask is my expenses to be paid as my per diem.

thank you in advance.


13 posted on 12/14/2007 9:00:16 AM PST by tired1 (responsibility without authority is slavery!)
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To: cogitator

So, is it your contention that this supposed ocean acidification is the Fault of Man? That somehow, since it is All Our Fault, that we will be able to stop the process?


14 posted on 12/14/2007 9:11:12 AM PST by BrewingFrog (I brew, therefore I am!)
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To: denydenydeny

Like anything alive today would REMEMBER what they have experienced in their evolutionary history!!


15 posted on 12/14/2007 9:13:09 AM PST by Rick.Donaldson (http://www.transasianaxis.com - Visit for lastest on DPRK/Russia/China/Etc --Fred Thompson for Prez.)
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To: BrewingFrog
So, is it your contention that this supposed ocean acidification is the Fault of Man?

It's not a contention, it's a fact.

16 posted on 12/14/2007 9:14:36 AM PST by cogitator
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To: cogitator
Immediate Action Needed To Save Corals From Climate Change

No, it's not needed. The coral can take care of itself and has been doing so for millennia of millennia.
Symbiodinium D: Coral's All-Purpose Clade for Coping with Stress
Reference
Lien, Y.-T., Nakano, Y., Plathong, S., Fukami, H., Wang, J.-T. and Chen, C.A. 2007. Occurrence of the putatively heat-tolerant Symbiodinium phylotype D in high-latitudinal outlying coral communities. Coral Reefs 26: 35-44.

What was done
The authors examined the symbiont diversity in a scleractinian coral, Oulastrea crispata, throughout its entire latitudinal distribution range in the West Pacific, i.e., from tropical peninsular Thailand (<10°N) to high-latitudinal outlying coral communities in Japan (>35°N), using "polymerase chain reactions (PCR), restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), and phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences of the nuclear large subunit (lsu) of rDNA," while "single-stranded conformational polymorphism (SSCP) of PCR products was employed to assess its higher sensitivity for low-abundance PCR products in mixed samples."

What was learned
The results of this enterprise convincingly demonstrated, "for the first time," in the words of the six scientists who conducted the study, "that phylotype D is the dominant Symbiodinium in scleractinian corals throughout tropical reefs and marginal outlying non-reefal coral communities." In addition, they learned that this particular symbiont clade "favors 'marginal habitats' where other symbionts are poorly suited to the stresses, such as irradiance, temperature fluctuations, sedimentation, etc."

What it means
Being a major component of the symbiont repertoire of most scleractinian corals in most places, the apparent near-universal presence of Symbiodinium phylotype D provides, according to Lien et al., "a flexible means for corals to routinely cope [our italics] with environmental heterogeneities and survive the consequences (e.g., recover from coral bleaching)," which suggests that the climate-alarmist claim of the impending demise of the majority of earth's corals in the face of continued global warming may be little more than a fairy tale from the dark side.</p> Reviewed 12 September 2007


17 posted on 12/14/2007 9:19:09 AM PST by aruanan
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To: VirginiaConstitutionalist

“....and that they are powerful enough to change it by simply using different light bulbs.”

Cow farts...it’s all in the cow farts I tell ya.


18 posted on 12/14/2007 9:23:30 AM PST by taxed2death (A few billion here, a few trillion there...we're all friends right?)
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To: cogitator

“It’s not a contention, it’s a fact.”

Oh really?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1939494/posts


19 posted on 12/14/2007 9:25:27 AM PST by taxed2death (A few billion here, a few trillion there...we're all friends right?)
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To: taxed2death
Ocean acidification caused by anthropogenic CO2 emissions is a fact.
20 posted on 12/14/2007 9:27:41 AM PST by cogitator
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