Posted on 10/19/2006 11:08:06 AM PDT by cogitator
Coastal pollution from land development may be obstructing the recovery of coral reefs damaged by rising sea temperatures, the United Nations said Thursday, warning of new threats to the world's oceans.
The UN Environment Programme said in a report that "land-based pollution, reclamation, clearing of coastal vegetation and poor sewage control can damage reefs."
"More importantly," it said, "they demonstrate that protection of coastal land area around marine protected areas is essential for reducing local pollution and facilitating re-colonization of corals."
Coral reefs sustained widespread damage in the late 1990s due to higher than normal surface temperatures caused by global warming that had a severe bleaching effect, it said.
Reef recovery is essential to preserving oceanic eco-systems but is jeopardized by rapid coastal development, UNEP said in the report entitled "Our Precious Coasts: Marine Pollution, Climate Change and Resilience of Coastal Ecosystems."
It found that an estimated 70 percent of the world's tropical coasts have been developed and projected that 90 percent would be developed by the year 2030.
"Nature can always recover, but the domino effect of bleaching events caused by global warming with pollution has significantly altered the ability of coral reefs to do so," said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.
He urged nations to boost marine protected areas to help corals regrow.
Damaged reefs in waters surrounding Mahe, the main island of Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, are recovering at rates ranging from five to 70 percent but those in protected areas are generally recovering faster, the report said.
The findings, presented at an international marine pollution conference in Beijing and in a statement from UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, were released ahead of a major climate change summit in the Kenyan capital next month.
Coral reefs, sometimes referred to as "rainforests of the sea," bring an estimated 30 billion dollars (24 billion euros) in revenue to local fishing and tourism industries around the world, the report said.
That's too bad. In this case, the message is more important than the messenger.
Well all you needed to see was this to know this is total nonsense. Just another fraudulent Chicken Little panic attack to justify the continuing raping of the Taxpayers pocket book by the Junk Scientists.
Let's see. Since the 1960s, Pollution, Overpopulation, Peak Oil, Global Cooling, Starvation, Killer Bees, Aids etc etc etc ad nausea have been the coming global Armageddon.
Funny thing, after raping the Taxpayers for years on this hysteria, the doom and gloom pronouncements magically vanish until the next media manufactured hysteria is needed to pump up Junk Scientist budgets.
Once I ordered a vodka on the rocks.... Three guesses...
The UN should just stop polluting.
If we bulldozed the UN HQ into the Atlantic, it'd make for a nice artificial reef, no?
Oh...I thought it said "reefers". Nevermind!
This is an unwarranted attack. Do a little research yourself and find out if the threats to coral reefs are real or not (hint: they are). Your attitude in this case is a bit too head-in-the-sand.
No. Those "rocks" kept me in the can for about a day.
I wouldn't mind seeing how the numbers were processed, but I wouldn't be surprised that tropical coasts are significantly developed -- they are popular places! Case in point:
Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman
Map of Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman:
Map of resorts on Phuket Island, Thailand (made famous by the tsumami):
That doesn't help. There are several instances (wolves in Yellowstone is another) that show when top predators are eliminated or substantially reduced, entire ecosystems are altered.
No kidding. Liberals come out against trashing nature and to some people, that makes turning the world into one big dump a conservative value. It isn't.
Reflexive opposition to the message bearer instead of a position that stands on its own merits should be left to Dingy Harry and the rest of the congressional socialists.
It's too bad. The eco-nazis and their antics have made us numb to the fact that there are true environmental concerns in the world. I just got home from Bermuda, one of the last places on Earth with an undisturbed reef system, a true treasure in this day and age.
This is like the homeless people stories that returned when GWBush took office.
These environwacko stories only happen to influence elections.
Well, the environmental threats to coral reefs don't happen just to influence elections.
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