Environment

Coral threatened by massive bleaching event

by LotusFlower | January 3, 2009 at 05:17 pm

362 views | 57 Recommendations | 9 comments

The bleaching of the coral in the Coral Sea is forcast to cause massive problems for marine life and this year's predicted bleaching due to a hot southern summer could be repeated time and time again as global warming kicks in.

This follows news as reported at NP that coral growth in some parts of the world is at its slowest ever.

A report from the US Government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts severe bleaching for parts of the Coral Sea, which lies adjacent to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and the Coral Triangle, a 5.4 million square kilometre expanse of ocean in the Indo-Pacific which is considered the centre of the world’s marine life.

“This forecast bleaching episode will be caused by increased water temperatures and is the kind of event we can expect on a regular basis if average global temperatures rise above 2 degrees,” said Richard Leck, Climate Change Strategy Leader for WWF’s Coral Triangle Program.

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Amy Judd

at 17:28 on January 3rd, 2009

Thanks for including a link to mine as well! I didn't hear that the coral was being bleached out at the same time.

Paschen

at 22:09 on January 3rd, 2009

This is a good follow up post. thank you.

azzayindia

at 08:33 on January 5th, 2009

this issue needs attention world wide

hope politicians are listening

Lusitano69

at 08:40 on January 5th, 2009

I was there in 1997, everything looked pristine, fell in love with the place.It's sad to know about this threat, i certainly hope that this photo helps in anyway or shape.

Lusitano69 has contributed a photo to this story.

kalli

at 09:21 on January 5th, 2009

I was at the Great Barrier Reef near Hamilton Island, Australia in 2007 (more pictures from the same trip here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/elinias/sets/72157601415239257/ )

kalli has contributed a photo to this story.

ScubaGeek

at 11:41 on January 5th, 2009

It's difficult to balance the desire to see and photograph these wonderful creatures in the wild with the implications of over-diving and damage to species from human carelessness and unwanted interaction.

ScubaGeek has contributed a photo to this story.