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International Year of the Reef launched

WASHINGTON: Even coral reefs, thought to be pristine, are facing challenges, researchers said on Thursday while launching the International Year of the Reef.

This is an effort to increase awareness of the ecological, economic, social and cultural value of coral reefs as well as to learn more about threats to coral reefs and possibly learn how to solve them.

The year of the reef is a “campaign to highlight the importance of coral reef ecosystems and to motivate people to protect them,” Conrad Lautenbacher, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said at a briefing.

Climate warming has become an increasing threat to reefs, added Clive Wilkinson, coordinator of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network.

Corals have an upper limit of temperatures they can tolerate, he said, adding that carbon dioxide in the ocean water is creating the “soda water” effect, increasing water’s acidity and making it harder for corals to form their shells.

Bonaire, a Carribean island, “has been viewed as being a pristine environment,” but some effects have become visible even there, said Mark Patterson of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. Researchers there have found “troubling factors” such as the spread of blue-green algae, which may be killing the corals.

“We’re seeing more dead and dying coral than we should be,” he said, though there are some positive signs with a return of sea urchins, which had been killed by disease and algae-eating fish.

An expedition to Bonaire, in the Netherlands Antilles, is seeking to survey the reefs there, which are popular with divers.

Researchers are scuba diving on the reef and also using remote-controlled underwater vehicles to extend their study into deeper waters. — AP

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International Year of the Reef launched

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