Another horrible prediction

[schsch]

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands - Coral reef experts heard dire predictions for the underwater kingdoms, including one estimate that 60 percent of the world’s coral reefs could die in less than 25 years due to pollutants and global warming.

Sea temperatures are rising, weakening the reefs’ resistance to increased pollutants, such as runoff from construction sites and toxins from boat paints. The fragile reefs are hosts to countless marine plants and animals.

“Think of it as a high school chemistry class,” said Billy Causey, the Caribbean and Gulf Mexico director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “You mix some chemicals together and nothing happens. You crank up the Bunsen burner and all of a sudden things start bubbling around. That’s what’s happening. That global Bunsen burner is cranking up.”


Causey was one of some 200 private and government researchers from the Caribbean, Florida and U.S. Pacific islands who gathered in St. Thomas for a meeting of the NOAA’s U.S. Coral Reef Task Force.

'Plausible prediction' offered
Last year’s coral loss in the Caribbean waters supports predictions that 60 percent of the world’s coral could die within a quarter century, said Tyler Smith of the University of the Virgin Islands.

“Given current rates of degradation of reef habitats, this is a plausible prediction,” Smith said.

Last year, scientists with the World Conservation Union estimated that half of all reefs could die by 2045.

[das]

This is also happening in the pacific ocean down under with the Great Barrier Reef where the ocean temperature has risen.

[boozeman]

It would be so sad if the only living reefs our children would see are those in our living rooms

[Woodstock]

[prow]

and think about it, those estimates are based on current warming trends. like the polar ice caps melting. it does not take into account the increasing rate of the warming. so those predictions are a best case senerio. 10 years ago the estimated that at the current rate the polar ice caps would be gone in 200years(or something close to that). today they are saying they will be gone in 75years. i just hope i am dead before we totally distroy this planet.

[pmac90]

I'm not in anyway trying to start the great debate. I DO agree we do not help this planet. BUT, science has told us before that mother earth does what mother earth wants to do. why should things be different because we are here?? dino's, ice ages yada yada you get my point. just a thought.

[prow]

Originally Posted by pmac90

why should things be different because we are here??

if we left the rainforest alone and did not polute the oceans and everything else. it would be no different. BUT we do. its like a smoker, we know it will kill eventually, but yet some still smoke.
with the dinio's we can only geuss, comet hit the earth, massive quake, massive volcano ect....today we know why these things are happening. some just dont want to admit it or dont care.