Report details growing climate change threat to coral reefs

The Coral Kingdom Collection from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

Global climate change poses a major threat to the world's coral reefs, which already are suffering from coastal development, overfishing, and pollution. A new report, co-authored by NCAR scientist Joan Kleypas, warns that changes in surface ocean temperature and chemistry will continue to damage these biologically vital and economically important ecosystems. The Pew Center on Global Climate Change report, "Coral Reefs and Global Climate Change: Potential Contributions of Climate Change to Stresses on Coral Reef Ecosystems," will be released on 13 February 2004 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The report, written by Kleypas with Robert Buddemeier (Kansas Geological Survey) and Richard Aronson (Dauphin Island Sea Lab), analyzes the likely impacts of climate change over the next century on coral reef ecosystems around the world. Kleypas and other scientists will discuss the threats to coral reefs at an AAAS session on February 14. For the full story, see the UCAR news release at: http://www.ucar.edu/communications/newsreleases/2004/reefs.html Photo: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Department of Commerce