• ABOUT RPRN
• NEWSROOM
• Plans and Pricing
• WRITING TIPS
• DIRECTORIES

Coral Ecosystems Threatened by Garbage

October 28, 2008

Coral ecosystems are dying fast and could disappear completely by 2100

by Dan Bloom

TAIPEI, TAIWAN(RUSHPRNEWS)10/28/08 -- A Taiwanese research project has shown that garbage is giving the oceans "indigestion" and that CO2 emissions could kill off coral ecosystems worldwide by 2100. That's what Allen Chen, an associate researcher at the Research Center for Biodiversity in Taiwan, says, and he wasn't mincing his words.

"If humans do not cut their carbon emissions, carbon concentrations in the atmosphere could reach 500 parts per million (ppm) between 2050 and 2100, raising the world's temperature by 2 degrees Centrigrade or more and would cause coral to stop building reefs," Chen says, adding:
"The disappearance of the coral ecosystem would produce a ripple effect and be detrimental to human survival."

Lin Chia-chi, a reporter for the English-language daily Taipei Times, recently covered this story, noting: "Twenty years ago, Taiwan's sea floors were still 80 percent covered with coral, but now rapid increases in human activity has severely tipped the balance of coral reef ecosystems."

Lin quotede Chen as saying that except for the eastern seas off Taiwan's main island, where some 70 percent of the sea floor is still coral-rich, sea regions near areas of frequent human activity, such as Green Island and Penghu, are now only 45 percent covered in coral.
Chen added: "The observation rate of some types of fish is now close to zero."

Lin quoted Chen as also saying that fish are not only the stars of coral reef systems, but they also stabilize the food chain within them. When they reduce in number, it is an indicator that the reef is not functioning well, Chen told Lin.

Chen, citing a paper published in the journal Nature last year, said that 25 percent of the current carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
(380ppm) dissolves in water, producing carbonic acid. The acidity in the ocean could result in the retardation of calcium carbonate formation, because it would lower the concentration of carbonate in the water, which in turn would slow the calcium carbonate from being accumulated and built into coral reefs.

"In addition, ocean habitats were increasingly damaged and seas were filled with plastic bags, bottles, broken nets and straws that would not decompose for centuries," Chen was quoted by the Taipei Times as saying. "The trash was causing the oceans to suffer from 'indigestion'
and killing coral systems".

To save the oceans, people need to change their habits, Chen and other Taiwanese researchers involved with the center insist. What actions can people take? "People should stop using disposable chopsticks, cut back on drinking bottled water, drive less, recycle and refuse to eat seafood that cannot be bred in fish farms, such as lobster," Chen was quoted as saying.

• ABOUT RPRN
• SERVICES
• NEWSROOM
• WRITING TIPS
• TESTIMONIALS
• DIRECTORIES
• TERMS AND CONDITIONS
• CAREER
• ADVERTISING