RISING water temperatures, sea levels and acidity in the vast region threaten to destroy reefs in Southeast Asia'sCoral Triangle, a region labelled the ocean's answer to the Amazon rainforest, the WWF report said. Collapse of the reefs would send food production in the region plum¬meting by 80 percent and imperil the livelihoods of over 100 million people, forcing many to move from coastal vil-lages to teeming cities, it warned. "If we don't do anything, then the reefs are going to be gone by the end of this century and the impact on food security and livelihoods will be very significant," Lida Pet Soede, WWF Coral Triangle Initiative Network head, said. "Some of the locations in the Coral Triangle are really important areas for all sorts of fish. The migration of tuna and turtles that spawn in the Coral Triangle are not going to have a next generation." Saving the Coral Triangle will require countries to commit to deep cuts in carbon gas emissions when they gather for global climate talks in the Danish capital Copenhagen in December to work out a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol. Cuts of 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050 would be needed to avert the worst effects on the region, home to more than half the world's coral reefs and a lynch pin for ocean life in the region. Heat-trapping carbon gases - nota¬bl~' from burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas are blamed for warming Earth's atmosphere and driving changes to weather patterns. Local communities and governments will also have to curb over-fishing and pol¬lution, the WWF report said. "If you continue down the path of the over-exploitation of resources, even if you get an incredible reduction in emissions there will still be a threat," Richard Leek, WWF climate campaigner, said.
The New Indian Express, 18th May 2009
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