News
Coral reefs see 40 percent drop in growth since the 1970s
A new study has found that coral growth rates have plunged 40 percent in since the mid 1970s.
A team of researchers working on a Carnegie expedition in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef have suggested that ocean acidification might be playing an important role in the perilous slowdown. They compared current measurements of the growth rate of a section of the Great Barrier Reef with similar measurements taken more than 30 years ago.
In order to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between acidification and decreased calcification, the team led by Carnegie’s Ken Caldeira compared measurements of the rate of calcification in one segment of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef called Bird Island, that were taken in between 1975 and 1979 to those made at the neighboring Lizard Island in 2008 and 2009.
They found that the rates of reef calcification were 40 percent lower in 2008 and 2009 than they were during the same season in 1975 and 1976.
However, the team was not able to demonstrate a change in the amount of live coral covering the reef structure over the three decade period.
If the reef in Australia was as sensitive to ocean acidification, then the increase in ocean acidification would be sufficient to explain the 40 percent decline.
Caldeira said that the coral reefs were getting hammered, and ocean acidification, global warming, coastal pollution, and overfishing were all responsible for damaging them.
Source: www.aninews.in
Over the next 12 months, specialist scuba holiday company Dive Worldwide will be supporting Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation with donations collected from client bookings to any one of its stunning dive destinations around the world. The independently-owned operator expects to raise £3000 for the UK charity.
Manager at Dive Worldwide, Phil North, said: “We’re especially excited to work with Bite-Back and support its intelligent, creative and results-driven campaigns to end the UK trade in shark products and prompt a change in attitudes to the ocean’s most maligned inhabitant.”
Bite-Back is running campaigns to hold the media to account on the way it reports shark news along with a brand new nationwide education programme. Last year the charity was credited for spearheading a UK ban on the import and export of shark fins.
Campaign director at Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’re enormously grateful to Dive Worldwide for choosing to support Bite-Back. The company’s commitment to conservation helps set it apart from other tour operators and we’re certain its clients admire and respect that policy. For us, the affiliation is huge and helps us look to the future with confidence we can deliver against key conservation programmes.”
To launch the fundraising initiative, Phil North presented Graham Buckingham with a cheque for £1,000.
Visit Dive Worldwide to discover its diverse range of international scuba adventures and visit Bite-Back to learn more about the charity’s campaigns.
MORE INFORMATION
Call Graham Buckingham on 07810 454 266 or email graham@bite-back.com
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