Climate change kills coral.(THE REGION)

0 Comments | Caribbean Update, July, 2009

Climate change has contributed to a flattening of the complex, multi-layered architecture of Caribbean coral reefs, compromising their role as a nursery for fish stocks and a buffer against tropical storms, according to a study published in the London-based Royal Society journal Biology Letters, reports Reuters (June 10, 2009).

The analysis of 500 surveys of 200 reefs, conducted between 1969 and 2008, showed the most complex types of reef had been virtually wiped out across the Caribbean. The biggest impact has occurred in the last decade, said the report by researchers from Britain's University of East Anglia and Canada's Simon Fraser University. "Lack of ... refuges for species ... such as lobsters and large fishes may compromise the long-term sustainability of...