Experts alarmed at destruction of coral reefs

Scientists attending the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) talks in Nairobi Tuesday expressed shock at the rapid destruction of the coral reefs, which are critical in ensuring the survival of the marine life, due to warmer sea temperatures and the El Nino weather patterns.

Ruth Gates, Director at the University of Hawaii's Institute of Marine Biology, said most coral reefs around the world, a majority of them in Asian states of India, Maldives, Sri Lanka and the Lakshadweep Islands in India, have shown at least 93 percent of bleaching as a result of warming sea waters.

"The bleaching of the coral reefs means they are stressed and they have turned white in colour, which is a response to the elevated sea temperatures linked to warming by climate change," Gates told a news media roundtable in Nairobi.

The stressful conditions being witnessed in the coral reefs, which are important ingredients for the survival of sea species and marine life support, is pushed by the continuing dredging of ports for transport networks, the effects of climate change and green house gas emissions.

"The El Nino has impacts and we can assess the impacts. Some 80 percent of the reefs are dead or 70 percent of them are bleached," Gates told reporters.

The scientists say the bleached coral reefs could still be salvaged by making efforts to lower the global temperatures. In the past El Nino events in 1998, experts say the world lost 18 percent of the coral reefs.

In a new report released in Nairobi Tuesday, UNEP warns the coral reefs face a bleak future but life-boats may help them survive as the climate heats up while shallow coral reefs experience bleaching and possible death or drying up.

"Worryingly, even if emission reduction committed by the countries in the Paris agreement is achieved, more than a quarter of the world's reefs will be affected by bleaching.

UNEP'S Head of Coral Reefs Unit, Jerker Tamelander, said the situation facing the coral reefs was much more serious than previously thought due to the effects of bleaching.

"This is a very serious situation. The coral reefs will continue to bleach. However, the reefs have opportunity to bounce back," Tamelander said.

The bleaching of the coral reefs renders them more useless in saving the marine life-ecosystem because they are then subjected to erosion at sea while they also lose their original structure.

Scientists say if the destruction of these coral reefs continue, the lives of people living around coastal regions in over 100 countries, who depend on oceanic waters for food and income would be lost.

The coral reefs also attract revenue from tourists and also affect other industries. Endit