[Coral-List] Great Barrier Reef is rapidly losing coral; coral cover could fall to ~5% in the next decade

[Dean Jacobson]

Sadly, I've been expecting, waiting for this tragic process on the GBR to play itself out.  For years I have anticipated that, once the high profile regions degrade, more attention will finally be paid to neglected, underappreciated reef systems that remain healthy, such as the Marshall Islands (almost as pristine as the Line Islands); currently the Marshalls are getting almost no dive tourism $, but once people realize it may be the best of what is left, a surge of such tourism may help locals begin to take better care of their reefs.  Majuro, as I have shown, has degraded castrastrophically in recent decades, but other atolls (23 of them) are enchantingly intact and healthy.  World travelors are suprised by how pristine they are, the best that is left.  And we have live-aboards on Majuro!
 
Dean Jacobson
College of the Marshall Islands

From: Tracy Gill <tracy.gill at noaa.gov>
To: coral-list coral-list <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa..gov> 
Sent: Thursday, October 4, 2012 3:51 AM
Subject: [Coral-List] Great Barrier Reef is rapidly losing coral; coral cover could fall to ~5% in the next decade

Great Barrier Reef is rapidly losing coral; coral cover could fall to ~5%
in the next decade - see story:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/01/australia-reef-idUSL3E8L14K220121001
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