Blogs Nature Man ~ Every day is EARTH Day's
'Freezer Plan' Bid to Save Coral
- October 29, 2009 23:11:08
- Read all 9 comments
- +4 raves
'Freezer plan' bid to save coral
By Matt McGrath
BBC News, Copenhagen
Corals in Honda Bay in Palawan island, western Philippines
Coral reefs are a key source of food, income and coastal protection
The prospects of saving the world's coral reefs now appear so bleak that plans are being made to freeze samples to preserve them for the future.
A meeting in Denmark took evidence from researchers that most coral reefs will not survive even if tough regulations on greenhouse gases are put in place.
Scientists proposed storing samples of coral species in liquid nitrogen.
That will allow them to be reintroduced to the seas in the future if global temperatures can be stabilised.
Legislators from 16 major economies have been meeting in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, to try to agree the way forward on climate change.
The meeting has been organised by the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment (Globe).
Losing the fight
It's the last ditch effort to save biodiversity from the reefs which are extremely diverse systems
Simon Harding
Zoological Society of London
Key coral reefs 'could disappear'
One of the issues they have been considering is what to do with coral reefs, which make up less than a quarter of 1% of the ocean's floor.
Yet the reefs are a key source of food, income and coastal protection for around 500 million people worldwide.
At this meeting, politicians and scientists acknowledged that global emissions of carbon dioxide are rising so fast that we are losing the fight to save coral and the world must develop an alternative plan.
Freezing samples for the future may be a necessary option.
''Well it's the last ditch effort to save biodiversity from the reefs which are extremely diverse systems," said Simon Harding from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
"It would take other work to try and reconstruct the reef so that you can start the process of building up a reef again," he said.
"That is something that needs to be looked at in detail, but we can definitely store the species and save them in that way."
According to recent research, one of the world's most important concentrations of coral - the so-called Coral Triangle in South East Asia - could be destroyed by climate change before the end of this century with significant impacts on food security and livelihoods.
By Matt McGrath
BBC News, Copenhagen
Corals in Honda Bay in Palawan island, western Philippines
Coral reefs are a key source of food, income and coastal protection
The prospects of saving the world's coral reefs now appear so bleak that plans are being made to freeze samples to preserve them for the future.
A meeting in Denmark took evidence from researchers that most coral reefs will not survive even if tough regulations on greenhouse gases are put in place.
Scientists proposed storing samples of coral species in liquid nitrogen.
That will allow them to be reintroduced to the seas in the future if global temperatures can be stabilised.
Legislators from 16 major economies have been meeting in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, to try to agree the way forward on climate change.
The meeting has been organised by the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment (Globe).
Losing the fight
It's the last ditch effort to save biodiversity from the reefs which are extremely diverse systems
Simon Harding
Zoological Society of London
Key coral reefs 'could disappear'
One of the issues they have been considering is what to do with coral reefs, which make up less than a quarter of 1% of the ocean's floor.
Yet the reefs are a key source of food, income and coastal protection for around 500 million people worldwide.
At this meeting, politicians and scientists acknowledged that global emissions of carbon dioxide are rising so fast that we are losing the fight to save coral and the world must develop an alternative plan.
Freezing samples for the future may be a necessary option.
''Well it's the last ditch effort to save biodiversity from the reefs which are extremely diverse systems," said Simon Harding from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
"It would take other work to try and reconstruct the reef so that you can start the process of building up a reef again," he said.
"That is something that needs to be looked at in detail, but we can definitely store the species and save them in that way."
According to recent research, one of the world's most important concentrations of coral - the so-called Coral Triangle in South East Asia - could be destroyed by climate change before the end of this century with significant impacts on food security and livelihoods.
Top Comment
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Wow, this is really sad. There is nothing better than snorkeling or scuba diving in and around coral reefs. They are teeming with such a remarkable variety of animals. If the coral dies out, so will many other species.View thread
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Coral reefs are made by tiny animals called coral polyps. These polyps can only survive with the help of single-celled algae called Zooxanthellae.
It is this algae that gives coral its color and when the sea temperature rises above a critical level, the Zooxanthellae die and the coral turns white (hence the term ‘bleaching’). Interestingly, and nobody knows why, just before they die the Zooanthellae turn a more intense fluorescent color
I laud our scientists and marine biologists for their dedication to our reefs
Not as many birds are coming to our feeders these days except for a few humming birds. How is it in your neck of the woods?
I have quite a few trees on my property and so plenty of birds. My avatar is the hummingbird who comes every year. I haven't seen the blue ones here in Mich but plenty of green hummers. Last year a family of blue jays nested in a maple tree outside my back door. On memorial day morning I awoke to a loud noise and saw the baby blue perched on my fence. She/he was hopping around and low flying outside all day in view of her family. What an amazing sight to see. The following day they had gone.
Now that winter will be upon us soon, I begin to mark off the weeks until spring, my favorite time of year. It's so short, not like in England where I was raised. You are on the west coast aren't you. I have been through 27 states.
We have only been getting the green back with red throat humming birds and not as many as previous years. Wife said they go south for the winter.
Lots of Canadian geese are wintering here near the SF bay or the man made fresh lake. They LOVE the golf course.