\u201cThis is not a cheerful talk, but it\u2019s based on the best science available,\u201d coral reef expert John \u201cCharlie\u201d Veron told the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council at its June meeting in Honolulu. And while Veron\u2019s talk stuck out like a sore thumb amidst the routine fishing effort presentations, enforcement reports, and the like, council chair Sean Martin said that Veron\u2019s report on the effects of climate change on the world\u2019s oceans \u201cis one we all need to hear.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a nutshell, Veron said that if greenhouse gas emission trends continue as they have been, the world eventually won\u2019t be able to function. \u201cThings are looking very nasty for our planet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\tThe weather phenomenon known as El Ni\u00f1o offers a hint of what global warming might do to the world\u2019s reefs. El Ni\u00f1o, which \u201cpackages up the heat that the earth has been collecting\u201d and sends it to the equatorial regions, is responsible for killing half of the coral colonies on the map, he said. While corals have a tremendous capacity to recover from bleaching, which can result from increased ocean temperatures, they can only do so when all other factors are relatively normal, he said.<\/p>\n
\tIn most climate change scenarios, corals will have to deal with ocean acidification, which occurs when carbon dioxide in the air is absorbed by the ocean at a rate faster than the ocean can assimilate it. Veron said that because carbon dioxide is more soluble in cold water, acidification is starting in the polar areas and is moving towards the equator. In a highly acidic ocean environment, any organism that uses calcium carbonate suffers, be it coral, fish, or tiny copepods. Already, Veron said, acidification is affecting plankton in the southern ocean.<\/p>\n
\tIn a highly acidic environment, bleached reefs will not likely recover. Veron presented a photo of a blackened, degraded reef at Papua New Guinea, which he said is what the world\u2019s reefs will look like in an acidic environment. Almost nothing lives there, he said, adding that the reef is dominated by slime.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy mid-century, if we carry on business as usual, all reefs will look more or less like this,\u201d he said. The destruction of fish habitat is a big deal, he told the council, but is by far not the only thing. The physiology, reproduction cycles, and the distribution of all other marine life will also be affected, he said.<\/p>\n
\tWhat\u2019s more, he added, \u201cThe lack of coral reefs is only the tip of the iceberg. If we create an environment where we destroy coral reefs, it will destroy everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tIn an article titled \u201cClimate Change Impacts on Marine Ecosystems,\u201d he writes, \u201cI cannot escape the conclusion that ocean acidification has played a major role in all five mass extinctions of the past. A particularly disturbing aspect of all this is that, following all mass extinctions, living reefs completely disappeared. Not just for thousands of years, but for millions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tDespite the dour outlook, Veron ended his talk on a positive note, stating that although the world has only a decade to turn things around, \u201cHumans can move very quickly if the motivation is there. We just have to declare the war.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tAccording to a biography distributed at the meeting, Veron has discovered and described 20 percent of all coral species of the world and is former chief scientist of the Australian Institute of Marine Science. He now heads his own organization, Coral Reef Research, and his latest book, A Reef in Time: The Great Barrier Reef from Beginning to End, \u201cpresents the case that if humanity continues to produce carbon dioxide at present rates for another decade, the coral reefs will be committed to wholesale destruction and the initiation of the sixth mass extinction,\u201d the bio states.<\/p>\n
— Teresa Dawson<\/p>\n
Volume 18, Number 10 April 2008<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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