S
Sean
Guest
Are there Philosophical implications on the current effects [or reporting of
studies] about GHG's and Climate Change on Coral Reefs?
FYI: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/318/5857/1737
Science 14 December 2007:
Vol. 318. no. 5857, pp. 1737 - 1742
DOI: 10.1126/science.1152509
Review
Coral Reefs Under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean Acidification
More below......................
-------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo News :
http://au.news.yahoo.com/071213/2/159fj.html
Coral reefs, delicate undersea structures resembling rocky gardens that are
made by tiny animals called coral polyps, are important nurseries and
shelters for fish and other sea life.
They are also considered valuable protection for coastlines from high seas.
Reefs are a critical source of food for millions of people and are important
for tourism from Australia to the islands of the Caribbean and the Florida
Keys.
They produce $US375 billion ($A426 billion) a year in economic value
worldwide, according to The Nature Conservancy environmental group, and are
considered a storehouse of potential 21st century medicines for cancer and
other diseases.
The polyps secrete calcium carbonate to build the stony base of the reef.
Corals grow slowly, as little as one centimetre per year and the fragile
structures they create are easily damaged by ship groundings, storms and
other threats.
The researchers, who based their work on computer simulations of ocean
chemistry, said about one-third of carbon dioxide, or CO2, put into the
atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean, slowing global warming but polluting
the sea.
The CO2 produces carbonic acid, the substance that gives soft drinks their
fizz. The acid reduces concentrations of carbonate-ions, which are critical
to reef building.
Current levels of CO2 in the atmosphere are 380 parts per million,
researchers said, but rising quickly as humans increase their emissions by
burning fossil fuels.
If trends hold, the concentration could rise to 880 ppm by 2100. But even if
atmospheric CO2 stabilised at 550 ppm, which would take a concerted
international effort, no existing coral reef could survive, the researchers
said.
"We have the world at stake here. It's a global emergency," said
Hoegh-Guldberg. "We've got to have (CO2) levels falling by 2015."
Australian and Caribbean reefs are at the greatest risk because they already
have lower carbonate-ion concentrations and therefore would "reach critical
levels sooner," he said.
The research should serve as a warning to those who look after reefs to ramp
up the fight against other threats to them, which include overfishing,
pollution from nearby land and a host of diseases, the researchers said.
"We need to think of this as the straw that broke the camel's back," said
Peter Sale of the United Nations University.
--------------------------------
Sean: I believe Global Warming is best understood as a step like
progression of "tipping points", beyond which an existing eco system, or
individual life form, can no longer maintain itself in the changed
environmental and climatic conditions.
---------------------------------------------
Con't ::
The study, published in the latest issue of the journal Science, should
serve as a warning to delegates to a UN climate conference in Bali,
Indonesia, this week, the researchers said.
"We need rapid reductions in carbon dioxide levels," said Ove
Hoegh-Guldberg, a marine science professor at Australia's University of
Queensland and a lead author of the study.
"The impact of climate change on coral reefs is much closer than we
appreciated," he said in a telephone interview from Australia. "It's just
around the corner."
The study found emissions of carbon dioxide, the main "greenhouse" gas
contributing to global warming, are boosting acidity so much that sea water
covering 98 per cent of all coral reefs may be too acidic by 2050 for some
corals to live, and while others may survive they would be unable to build
reefs.
"Unless we take action soon there is a real possibility that coral reefs,
and everything that depends on them, will not survive this century,"
researcher Ken Caldeira said.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Science Magazine: The world's leading journal of original scientific
research, global news, and commentary.
REVIEW : Coral Reefs Under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean Acidification
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/318/5857/1737
O. Hoegh-Guldberg,1 P. J. Mumby,2 A. J. Hooten,3 R. S. Steneck,4 P.
Greenfield,5 E. Gomez,6 C. D. Harvell,7 P. F. Sale,8 A. J. Edwards,9 K.
Caldeira,10 N. Knowlton,11 C. M. Eakin,12 R. Iglesias-Prieto,13 N.
Muthiga,14 R. H. Bradbury,15 A. Dubi,16 M. E. Hatziolos17
Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is expected to exceed 500 parts per
million and global temperatures to rise by at least 2
studies] about GHG's and Climate Change on Coral Reefs?
FYI: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/318/5857/1737
Science 14 December 2007:
Vol. 318. no. 5857, pp. 1737 - 1742
DOI: 10.1126/science.1152509
Review
Coral Reefs Under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean Acidification
More below......................
-------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo News :
http://au.news.yahoo.com/071213/2/159fj.html
Coral reefs, delicate undersea structures resembling rocky gardens that are
made by tiny animals called coral polyps, are important nurseries and
shelters for fish and other sea life.
They are also considered valuable protection for coastlines from high seas.
Reefs are a critical source of food for millions of people and are important
for tourism from Australia to the islands of the Caribbean and the Florida
Keys.
They produce $US375 billion ($A426 billion) a year in economic value
worldwide, according to The Nature Conservancy environmental group, and are
considered a storehouse of potential 21st century medicines for cancer and
other diseases.
The polyps secrete calcium carbonate to build the stony base of the reef.
Corals grow slowly, as little as one centimetre per year and the fragile
structures they create are easily damaged by ship groundings, storms and
other threats.
The researchers, who based their work on computer simulations of ocean
chemistry, said about one-third of carbon dioxide, or CO2, put into the
atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean, slowing global warming but polluting
the sea.
The CO2 produces carbonic acid, the substance that gives soft drinks their
fizz. The acid reduces concentrations of carbonate-ions, which are critical
to reef building.
Current levels of CO2 in the atmosphere are 380 parts per million,
researchers said, but rising quickly as humans increase their emissions by
burning fossil fuels.
If trends hold, the concentration could rise to 880 ppm by 2100. But even if
atmospheric CO2 stabilised at 550 ppm, which would take a concerted
international effort, no existing coral reef could survive, the researchers
said.
"We have the world at stake here. It's a global emergency," said
Hoegh-Guldberg. "We've got to have (CO2) levels falling by 2015."
Australian and Caribbean reefs are at the greatest risk because they already
have lower carbonate-ion concentrations and therefore would "reach critical
levels sooner," he said.
The research should serve as a warning to those who look after reefs to ramp
up the fight against other threats to them, which include overfishing,
pollution from nearby land and a host of diseases, the researchers said.
"We need to think of this as the straw that broke the camel's back," said
Peter Sale of the United Nations University.
--------------------------------
Sean: I believe Global Warming is best understood as a step like
progression of "tipping points", beyond which an existing eco system, or
individual life form, can no longer maintain itself in the changed
environmental and climatic conditions.
---------------------------------------------
Con't ::
The study, published in the latest issue of the journal Science, should
serve as a warning to delegates to a UN climate conference in Bali,
Indonesia, this week, the researchers said.
"We need rapid reductions in carbon dioxide levels," said Ove
Hoegh-Guldberg, a marine science professor at Australia's University of
Queensland and a lead author of the study.
"The impact of climate change on coral reefs is much closer than we
appreciated," he said in a telephone interview from Australia. "It's just
around the corner."
The study found emissions of carbon dioxide, the main "greenhouse" gas
contributing to global warming, are boosting acidity so much that sea water
covering 98 per cent of all coral reefs may be too acidic by 2050 for some
corals to live, and while others may survive they would be unable to build
reefs.
"Unless we take action soon there is a real possibility that coral reefs,
and everything that depends on them, will not survive this century,"
researcher Ken Caldeira said.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Science Magazine: The world's leading journal of original scientific
research, global news, and commentary.
REVIEW : Coral Reefs Under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean Acidification
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/318/5857/1737
O. Hoegh-Guldberg,1 P. J. Mumby,2 A. J. Hooten,3 R. S. Steneck,4 P.
Greenfield,5 E. Gomez,6 C. D. Harvell,7 P. F. Sale,8 A. J. Edwards,9 K.
Caldeira,10 N. Knowlton,11 C. M. Eakin,12 R. Iglesias-Prieto,13 N.
Muthiga,14 R. H. Bradbury,15 A. Dubi,16 M. E. Hatziolos17
Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is expected to exceed 500 parts per
million and global temperatures to rise by at least 2
