The above-mentioned Status of Coral Reefs Around the World, 2004 also notes (p. 21) that “The major emerging threat to coral reefs in the last decade has been coral bleaching and mortality associated with global climate change.”
Healthy coral, by contrast, is very colorful and rich with marine life.(Images source: Wikipedia)
It is believed that almost all species of corals wereaffected by high sea surface temperatures during 1998 and the El Niño at the time, which resulted in global coral bleaching and mortality.
Scientists have long been pessimistic about the future, with some reefs expected to vanish by 2020.
Additional scientific research, reported byGreenpeace fears climate change will eliminate reefs from many areas:
If climate change is not stopped, coral bleaching is set to steadily increase in frequency and intensity all over the world until it occurs annually by 2030—2070.
This would devastate coral reefs globally to such an extent that they could be eliminated from most areas of the world by 2100. Current estimates suggest that reefs could take hundreds of years to recover. The loss of these fragile ecosystems would cost billions of dollars in lost revenue from tourism and fishing industries, as well as damage to coastal regions that are currently protected by the coral reefs that line most tropical coastlines.
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