Indian Ocean Could Lose Coral Islands in 50 Years

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Indian Ocean Could Lose Coral Islands in 50 Years

 

Mon May 10, 8:35 AM ET

By George Thande

 

VICTORIA, Seychelles (Reuters) - The Indian Ocean could lose most of

its coral islands in the next 50 years if sea temperatures continue

to rise and reefs badly damaged by global warming do not recover, a

marine scientist said Monday.

 

 

Global warming (news - web sites) triggered the death of between 50

and 98 percent of coral reefs in a region stretching from northern

Mozambique to Eritrea to Indonesia in 1998 and although there has

been some recovery, scientists remain concerned. "We have reason to

believe that if climate changes continue due to the carbon dioxide

that is being pumped into the atmosphere, the temperatures at ground

level and in the oceans will go up," Dr. Carl Lundin, head of the

marine program of the Swiss-based World Conservation Union (IUCN),

said.

 

 

"So virtually all the coralline islands have a decent chance of

disappearing in 50 years," Lundin told Reuters in Victoria, the

capital of the Seychelles.

 

 

Coral reefs are among the most diverse and productive communities on

earth. Found in warm, clear, shallow waters of tropical oceans

worldwide, reefs have functions ranging from providing food and

shelter to fish and invertebrates to protecting the shore from

erosion.

 

 

Many coral reef organisms can only tolerate a narrow range of

environmental conditions and are very sensitive to damage from

environmental changes such as rising temperatures which can cause

bleaching and eventual death.

 

 

Lundin said sustained warming up of ocean currents which followed

the El Nino effect in 1998 resulted in bleaching and widespread

damage to corals in the Indian Ocean.

 

 

"So a very large region has been affected and an awful lot of damage

has been caused by the temperature increases which varied from one

to two to generally up to five degrees Celsius."

 

 

According to Lundin, the Seychelles' coralline islands of Amirantes,

Aldabra, Bird island and Denis island which support unique

ecosystems are seriously threatened.

 

 

"These islands are made of fossil reefs that have been raised out of

the water but as erosion continues, they are likely to be gnawed

away," said Lundin.

 

 

Lundin said there was some coral recovery with islands which lost up

to 100 percent of their coral cover in 1998 having regained between

two and 20 percent of their cover.

 

 

He attributed the gradual recovery of corals in Seychelles to time

and the lack of negative development.