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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/17/why-there-is-hope-that-the-worlds-coral-reefs-can-be-saved>
"For most of us, the colourful, otherworldly marinescapes of coral reefs
are as remote as the alien landscapes of the moon. We rarely, if ever,
experience these underwater wonderlands for ourselves – we are, after
all, air-breathing, terrestrial creatures mostly cocooned in cities. It
is easy, therefore, not to notice the perilous state they’re in: we’ve
lost 50% of coral reefs in the past 20 years; more than 90% are expected
to die by 2050 according to a presentation at the Ocean Sciences Meeting
in San Diego, California earlier this year. As the oceans heat further
and turn more acidic, owing to rising carbon dioxide emissions, coral
reefs are tipped to become the world’s first ecosystems to become
extinct because of us.
Just because we don’t see them doesn’t mean we won’t miss them. For, as
we are belatedly discovering, the nice, dry human world that we’ve made
for ourselves is dependent on the planet’s natural systems and coral
reefs are no exception. They protect our coastlands from erosion, they
are the nurseries for the fish we eat and they harbour the plankton that
produce the oxygen we breathe. Globally, coral reefs support a quarter
of all marine life and the livelihoods of a billion people."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
