Sad and Scary

[LauraCline]

I guess everyone has read about the worldwide coral bleaching by now. If you haven't here is the yahoo news story:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060314/sc_nm/environment_coral_bleaching_dc

I know that the corals can recover to a certain point but if the seas stay too warm, the ecosystem could be wiped out. I think that world leaders especially those here in the US have too little concern for the problems that are being caused by global warming and that there is a real possibility that coral reefs could be a memory somewhere in the not too distant future.

 

[SerranidTerror]

Its a scary thought about losing what we care about. Although we are treading into areas we can only speculate about (and thats quite alarming). It should be also pointed out that the earth has been and always will be a dynamic place. Corals have been around for quite a long time. In that time the seas have cooled and warmed, in fact we are historically (geologically speaking) at a low sea stand...meaning the sea levels aren't normally this low on our planet. To boot some oceanographers are now saying that drastic climate changes may have occured in time periods measured in decades (not everyone agrees but its good to read all opinions). Will there be casualties? Yes of course...its happening. But coral reefs and life in general will most likely survive. Unfortunately we will probaly lose some diversity in the short term I'm not trying to knock the thread, just hoping to offer some hope that at least some reefs will survive our current climate change.

 

[LauraCline]

But coral reefs and life in general will most likely survive. Unfortunately we will probaly lose some diversity in the short term

Excellent point! I started thinking about that after I posted - just so depressing seeing all white instead of a rainbow.