Summary
A team of marine researchers wants the United States to move more rapidly in preserving coral reefs in U.S. waters. The United States has main coral reef systems, one in Florida and one in Hawaii. Florida's coral reef runs for 200 miles along the Florida Keys and is central to a $1.6 billion tourism industry.
The researchers say that despite small improvements, the condition of the coral reefs is accelerating in a negative direction, and pollution, over fishing, disease, and thermal stress generated by global warming are the culprits. The team recommends that the U.S. begin managing reef ecosystems as entire ecosystems instead of as fragmented sets of habitats.
Original source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050323120043.htm
Details
An international team of marine ecologists is urging the United States to take immediate action to save its fragile coral reefs.
"We're frustrated with how slowly things are moving with coral reef conservation in the United States," said Fiorenza Micheli, an assistant professor of biological sciences at Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station.
Micheli and Stanford graduate student Carrie Kappel are among 11 researchers from the United States and Australia who co-authored the Science essay, which focused on America's two major coral reef systems in Hawaii and Florida.
Florida's coral reef barrier stretches some 200 miles along the Florida Keys and plays an important role in the state's economy.
In 1990, the U.S. government established the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to protect the reef--third longest in the world behind Australia and Belize.
But pollution, overfishing, disease and thermal stress caused by climate change remain significant problems throughout the sanctuary, according to the authors.
"Conversion of 16,000 cesspools to centralized sewage treatment and control of other land-based pollution have only just begun," they noted, and only 6 percent of sanctuary waters have been set aside as "no take zones" where fishing is prohibited.
In contrast, the neighboring countries of Cuba and the Bahamas have agreed to conserve 20 percent of their coral reef ecosystems, while Australia recently zoned one-third of its massive Great Barrier Reef as "no take" in an attempt to reverse further ecological decline.
The
coral reefs of Hawaii's main islands--Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii--also show degradation similar to that of the Florida Keys, according to the authors.
And while reefs in the isolated northwest Hawaiian Islands remain in relatively good condition, they, too, are showing signs of decline: "Monk seals and green turtles are endangered; large amounts of marine debris are accumulating, which injure or kill corals, seabirds, mammals, turtles and fishes; and levels of contaminants, including lead and PCBs, are high."
One day, reefs of the United States could be the pride of the nation."
About the author: Mike Adams is a consumer health advocate and award-winning journalist with a mission to teach personal and planetary health to the public He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, and he is well known as the creator of popular downloadable preparedness programs on financial collapse, emergency food storage, wilderness survival and home defense skills. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2010, Adams launched TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural health video site featuring videos on holistic health and green living. He also launched an online retailer of environmentally-friendly products (BetterLifeGoods.com) and uses a portion of its profits to help fund non-profit endeavors. He's also a successful software entrepreneur, having founded a well known email marketing software company whose technology currently powers the NaturalNews email newsletters. Adams volunteers his time to serve as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and pursues hobbies such as martial arts, Capoeira, nature macrophotography and organic gardening. Known by his callsign, the 'Health Ranger,' Adams posts his missions statements, health statistics and health photos at www.HealthRanger.org
Have comments on this article? Post them here:
people have commented on this article.
Monday, April 18, 2005
Email this article to a friend
Share
this article on: 
