Great Barrier Reef Faces Major Coral Destruction

[pinniped]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=570&ncid=753&e=1&u=/nm/20040221/sc_nm/environment_australia_reef_dc

Sat Feb 21,12:55 AM ET Add Science - Reuters to My Yahoo!

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's Great Barrier Reef will lose most of its coral cover by 2050 and, at worst, the world's largest coral system could collapse by 2100 because of global warming, a study released on Saturday said.

The study by Queensland University's Center for Marine Studies, commissioned by the Worldwide Fund for Nature, said that the destruction of coral on the Great Barrier Reef was inevitable due to global warming, regardless of what actions were taken now.

"Under the worst-case scenario, coral populations will collapse by 2100 and the re-establishment of coral reefs will be highly unlikely over the following 200-500 years," said the report entitled "Implications of Climate Change for Australia's Great Barrier Reef."

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest living reef formation stretching 2,000 km (1,300 miles) north to south along Australia's northeast coast.
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I bet that stupid US pres. still thinks there's no such thing as global warming. After all, these are the dummies in the WH that like to distort science and intelligence.

[Lorien]

1. Most Americans will shrug

if they don't plan on visiting the reef themselves, they just won't care. We live in a totally selfish and short sighted society. The implications for the reef, the world's oceans, forests, food supplies etc. are terrifying. We'd better wake up and develop some concern before it's too late, and environmental change becomes our only focus, 24/7 (at which point all bets are off)!

[donsu]

2. america's only Coral reef is dead and dying (Fl. Keys)

pollution from sugar barons, pollution from drilling through the porous Coral for sewage disposal, rain runoff of pollution from cars/trucks, etc., pollution from cruise ships, etc., etc. etc.

[Lorien]

3. This thread is sinking like a stone

Sometimes I really hate it when I'm right. :-(