Caribbean Corals in Danger of Extinction: Climate Change, Warmer Waters Cited as Leading Cause

From an article on the Web site of Science Daily:

Caribbean coral species are dying off, indicating dramatic shifts in the ecological balance under the sea, a new scientific study of Caribbean marine life shows.

Two colonies of brain coral (Diploria strigosa) on Curacao show the effects of a coral disease called white plague. The colony on the left has died completely, and the disease has spread to the colony on the right, where it shows as a stark white band encroaching on the still-living, colorful part of the colony.

The study found that 10 percent of the Caribbean's 62 reef-building corals were under threat, including staghorn and elkhorn corals. These used to be the most prominent species but are now candidates to be listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

"One of the Atlantic Ocean's most beautiful marine habitats no longer exists in many places because of dramatic increases in coral diseases, mostly caused by climate change and warmer waters," said Dr. Michael L. Smith, director of the Caribbean Biodiversity Initiative at Conservation International. . . .

The threats to corals and other marine species include coastal pollution and human development; increased sedimentation in run-off water; thermal stress and heightened severity of hurricanes from climate change; and shifts in species dynamics due to over-fishing, according to the study. Scientists explained that the Caribbean has undergone the longest and most sustained impacts from human development since the colonization of the Americas.