| Subject: It bothers bubba, why don't you let me post todays greeting, embarrassed? |
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Date Posted: 18:14:09 06/10/07 Sun
In reply to:
DE
's message, "Well boo hoo hoo..." on 17:54:37 06/10/07 Sun
>Caribbean's Reef-Building Coral at Risk
>
>
>
>SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Six species of reef-building
>coral could vanish from the Caribbean due to rising
>temperatures and toxic runoff from islands'
>development, according to a study released Thursday.
>
>Nearly two dozen scientists from U.S. and Caribbean
>universities, as well as nonprofits, identified the
>threatened species while reviewing studies and
>scientific data at a March conference in Dominica.
>
>The species -- about 10 percent of the 62 varieties
>capable of forming reefs in the region -- include
>staghorn and elkhorn corals, which were once among the
>most prominent.
>
>"One of the Atlantic Ocean's most beautiful marine
>habitats no longer exists in many places because of
>dramatic increases in coral diseases, mostly caused by
>climate change and warmer waters," said Michael Smith,
>director of the Caribbean Biodiversity Initiative at
>Conservation International, a U.S.-based nonprofit.
>
>Peter Edmunds, a biology professor at California State
>University-Northridge, said the study provided a broad
>perspective that is "terribly important" but does not
>indicate how close a particular species is to dying
>off in the region.
>
>"It begs the question, is there a part of the
>Caribbean where the story is different?" he said.
>
>Researchers have blamed rising temperature, disease
>and pollutants for damage to the coral reefs, which
>host countless marine plants and animals.
>
>"The numbers of the population are so diminished that
>it might take a long, long time, given the right
>conditions, for them to recover," said William Precht,
>a Florida-based scientist with the Battelle Memorial
>Institute who participated in the study.
>
>The team also reported significant damage to
>mangroves, which filter pollutants, reporting the
>plants cover 42 percent less area in the Caribbean
>than they did 25 years ago.
>
>Conservation projects are under way to protect coral
>colonies in the Caribbean. The U.S. government's Coral
>Reef Task Force is helping officials in Puerto Rico
>and the U.S. Virgin Islands cut back on pollution and
>recreational activities that could threaten coral.
>
>The study was sponsored by the Caribbean Biodiversity
>Initiative, along with the nonprofit World
>Conservation Union in Switzerland and the Royal
>Caribbean Cruises' Ocean Fund
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