NYT/AP: Researchers Warn About Coral Reef Deaths

[DeepModem Mom]

Researchers Warn About Coral Reef Deaths
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 24, 2006

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) -- Researchers warn that more than half of the world's coral reefs could die in less than 25 years, killed off by a deadly cocktail of rising sea temperatures, silt runoff from construction sites, algae and other toxic ingredients.

Last year's coral loss in the Caribbean supports predictions that 60 percent of the world's coral alive today could die within a quarter century, University of the Virgin Islands researcher Tyler Smith said on Tuesday....

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A double punch of rising sea temperatures and increased pollutants -- such as construction-site sediment runoff and toxins from boat paints -- have kept coral from recovering, ultimately leading to its death, scientists said at the weeklong meeting....

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This year, Caribbean coral narrowly avoided another widespread episode of bleaching -- which is when stressed coral loose their pigment and are most susceptible to disease -- when sea temperatures only briefly surpassed levels that are healthy for coral.

Up to 30 percent of the world's coral reefs have died in the last 50 years, and another 30 percent are severely damaged, said Smith, who studies coral health in the U.S. Virgin Islands and collaborates with researchers globally....

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Caribbean-Coral-Threat.html

[GoddessOfGuinness]

1. Please...Could we stop killing each other long enough to save the planet?