Why Are We Killing Coral Reefs? Coral reefs are likely to become the first ecosystem completely destroyed by humans, predicts Dr. Peter Sale, a leading United Nations ecologist. His new book, Our Dying Planet, explains:

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/dnewman/within_the_next_century_coral.html

“It is not pollution, or overfishing, or mass bleaching, or climate change, or any of the other factors I have mentioned that is killing our coral reefs. It is all of these factors together. Or, to put it more plainly, the cause of the destruction of coral reefs is us.”

The only possible silver lining is that we still have the power to reverse course and save at least some of these magical living communities. But, change must come quickly.

Peter Sale, discusses evidence of the wholesale destruction of coral reefs in the interview below:

Coral Reefs likely to disappear by the end of the century, according to a top UN Scientist. In the recently published book Our Dying Planet, Professor Peter Sale writes that coral reef ecosystems are very likely to disappear by the end of this century, in what would be “a new first for mankind — the ‘extinction’ of an entire ecosystem.” He reports that the decline in coral reefs is mainly due to climate change and ocean acidification. This scientist may or may not be correct. But the tragedy is that we’ve come to the point where someone can actually say that they believe the statement can be supported scientifically. The time for action is now. http://thenelsondaily.com/news/coral-reefs-likely-disappear-end-century-13907