83 Coral Species to be Protected?

The Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition with the NOAA to file 83 coral species under the Endangered Species Act, in an effort to combat losses, mosty caused by ocean acidification due to high CO2 levels in the atmosphere. In addition, biologists think that the list should extend to an additional 267 species.

From the press release:

SAN FRANCISCO, California, October 20, 2009 (ENS) - The Center for Biological Diversity today filed a formal petition asking the federal government to protect 83 imperiled coral species under the Endangered Species Act and to designate critical habitat to ensure their survival and recovery.

The nonprofit conservation group petitioned the Secretary of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, through the National Marine Fisheries Service. NOAA Fisheries must respond to the petition within 90 days and within one year must determine whether listing is warranted for each of the 83 coral species.

These corals, all of which occur in U.S. waters from Florida and Hawaii to U.S. territories in the Caribbean and Pacific, face a growing threat of extinction due to rising ocean temperatures caused by global warming, and the related threat of ocean acidification.

Scientists have warned that coral reefs are likely to be the first worldwide ecosystem to collapse due to global warming. All the world's reefs could be destroyed by 2050.

Australian coral biologist Charlie Veron warned in a scientific paper earlier this year that at current levels of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (387 parts per million) most of the world's coral reefs are destined for irreversible decline.

"Coral reefs are the world's most endangered ecosystems and provide an early warning of impacts to come from our thirst for fossil fuels," said Miyoko Sakashita, oceans director of the Center for Biological Diversity. "Within a few decades, global warming and ocean acidification threaten to completely unravel magnificent coral reefs that took millions of years to build."

Read the full CBD press release here.
Image courtesy of NASA

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