Half the Great Barrier Reef has disappeared in past 3 decades: report - New York Daily News [fornadablog.blogspot.com]
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[fornadablog.blogspot.com], Half the Great Barrier Reef has disappeared in past 3 decades: report - New York Daily News
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Aerial views of The Great Barrier Reef are seen from above on August 7, 2009 in Cairns, Australia. A recent report finds that half the reef has disappeared in three decades. It could shrink to just five percent over the next decade.
Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem, has been reduced by 50 percent over the past 27 years, a new study found.
The reef is vanishing due to climate change, predatory starfish and intense cyclones linked to a warming of the oceans, according to scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences (AIMS) and the University of Wollongong.
Coral cover could fall to just 5 percent in the next decade,the study warns.
“This loss of over half of initial cover is of great concern, signifying habitat loss for the tens of thousands of species associated with tropical coral reefs," the study released on Tuesday said.
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven wonders of the natural world and the only living thing on Earth visible from space. Stretching for 1800 miles parallel to Australia’s northeastern coast, it is a breeding area for humpback whales, home to thousands of sea species and is the biggest single structure made by living organisms.
Coral reefs have been disappearing around the world but the pace of decline of the Great Barrier Reef has been more pronounced, especially since 2006, scientists said.
"In terms of geographic scale and the extent of the decline, it is unprecedented anywhere in the world," AIMS chief John Gunn told Reuters.
Mark Kolbe/Getty Images
“This loss of over half of initial cover is of great concern, signifying habitat loss for the tens of thousands of species associated with tropical coral reefs," says the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences study.
Normally resilient, a coral reef can recover in 10 to 20 years from an extreme storm or bleaching â€" caused by warmer sea temperatures.
But an increased frequency in cyclones â€" 34 in total since 1985 â€" have caused nearly half the losses of the Great Barrier Reef, the report found.
So scientists are pushing for immediate attention in two other areas â€" cutting both greenhouse gas emissions and the predatory starfish population.
Mark Kolbe/Getty Images
A Hawksbill sea turtle is swimming near Lady Elliot Island. The island is one of the three island resorts in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Some 50 percent of the Great Barrier Reef has vanished in under three decades, a study shows.
“We can't stop the storms but perhaps we can stop the starfish," AIMS chief John Gunn said.
Experts say reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions must be an immediate priority.
Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere during the burning of fossil fuels and part of that gas is absorbed by the oceans. This leads to ocean acidification, disrupting the ability of corals to build their calcium carbonate structures, scientists said.
Another short-term option is through managing the growing starfish population, which has been boosted by nutrient-rich runoff from agriculture in the region, LiveScience reported.
Getty Images/Universal Images Group
 Coral garden and Yellow-striped fairy basslets with Angelfish and Golden damselfish, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia
Katharina Fabricius, a coral reef ecologist, told LiveScience that the introduction of “natural starfish disease,†could be an option.
"Starfish normally are rare," Fabricius said. "We want to help Mother Nature keep them rare.â€
vcavaliere@nydailynews.com
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Question by Awesome Pwnyoazz Pawsome: Is "investing in green technology" just code for returning political favors? Is so-called "green" technology just a way for Obama to funnel government tax dollars into the pockets of his supporters? Best answer for Is "investing in green technology" just code for returning political favors?:
Answer by tm Answer by YB Logical Answer by Binder Clip Answer by American Citizen Answer by Chewy Ivan 2 Answer by UP and COMING Answer by hwinnum Answer by Peter
You should have asked this to GE in 2007.
It is beginning to look as though the $ 500 million Solyndra loan was actually a gift from taxpayers to the Sondra investors by the Obama Administration. Of course, the "investors" were big Obama donors. No wonder the FBI was ordered to confiscate the Solyndra computers. They had to be "scrubbed" of communications with the White House. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gND7FZUj8f4AdPFLEBfrJ8d8wbMw?docId=cc50c693e45a449eb8b005d88ccc44a9
yes because if Green Technology actually worked then the Romans or ancient Chinese would have invented it already
"returning political favors" Hmm. You mean like the governer of Texas; a so-called Christian idiot who forced little girls in Texas to get experimental innoculations of a vaccine produced by one of his political supporters? http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54095
Maybe, but then so is "seeking energy independence." Republicans' obsession with fossil fuel technologies is an even more blatant example of "returning political favors." At least Obama is trying to make sure America stays competitive in a post-petroleum world. Today's Republicans only care about getting paid by the industrial giants of today because they know they'll be dead in a post-petroleum world. They are too selfish to care about future generations of Americans. Why else would they ignore the National Debt while they are in power?
No one should be investing our money except us.
No. Investing in "green" technology is code for Agenda 21. Both parties are guilty. Obama is just the most recent and obvious President to push this on the American people.
Investing in green technology is code for trying to save the planet. The way to funnel government tax dollars into the pockets of his supporters was called "bail out".
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In the history of technology, emerging technologies are contemporary advances and innovation in various fields of technology. Various converging technologies have emerged in the technological convergence of different systems evolving towards similar goals. Convergence can refer to previously separate technologies such as voice (and telephony features), data (and productivity applications) and video that now share resources and interact with each other, creating new efficiencies. Emerging technologies are those technical innovations which represent progressive developments within a field for competitive advantage; converging technologies represent previously distinct fields which are in some way moving towards stronger inter-connection and similar goals. However, the opinion on the degree of impact, status and economic viability of several emerging and converging technologies vary. Many writers, including computer scientist Bill Joy, have identified clusters of techn ologies that they consider critical to humanity's future. Joy warns that the technology could be used by elites for good or evil. They could use it as "good shepherds" for the rest of humanity, or decide everyone else is superfluous and push for mass extinction of those made unnecessary by technology. Advocates of the benefits of technological change typically see emerging and converging technologies as offering hope for the betterment of the human condition. However, critics of the risks of technological ... Will New Technology Replace Jobs and Result in Greater Economic Freedom?
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