United Nations Urges Coral Reef Protection
With the ever increasing amount of heavy storms and climate change, the United Nations has vowed to coordinate a collaborative, worldwide effort to help protect the world’s coral reefs. At the Convention of Biological Diversity, the World Meteorological Organization stated that about 20 percent of the world’s coral reefs have been lost over the last century and that 25 percent more will deteriorate over the next century.
The United Nations has issued a report titled ‘Climate, Carbon, and Coral Reefs’ with the majority of the information in the report coming from the World Meteorological Organization. The report goes on to show just how important that coral reefs are to the worlds’ aquatic environment. Though only .2 percent of the world’s oceans are covered by tropical coral reefs, about 25 percent of marine species are in or around the reefs. The report also went on to say that tropical coral reefs accounted for $30 billion dollars put into the economy a year in the form of tourism and food.
The Convention of Biological Diversity is currently being held in Nagoya, Japan. The biggest threat that will come to the tropical coral reefs is global warming. The report went on to say that the consistent warming of the Earth causes carbon dioxide emissions which in turn are detrimental to the reefs. It went on to say that in 1997 and 1998 there was a very drastic increase in the Earth’s core temperature which has been rising steadily ever since. This increase in temperature causes bleaching to the reefs and also causes massive death counts among the tropical fish species who dwell in the reefs.
The United Nations is calling for a more greater effort on behalf of corporations which in turn can help with raising funds and also help with technological development that would go towards protecting the reefs. Another idea was that meteorologists need to be trained about the potential effects on just how major storms will have an effect on coral reefs. The UN says that there needs to be more research and studying of the reefs so scientists will be able to predict and possibly further damage from happening.
This article is sponsored by Tamarindo Fishing
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