Corals in danger: 02-01-2008
Australia's corals could migrate south to cooler waters as a result of global warming, it has been claimed.
According to John Pandolfi fossil records indicate that coral reefs shifted south during a warm spell almost 125,000 years ago.
In a statement he said: "Back then there used to be rich coral reefs dotted all along the West Australia coastline, from south of Perth to north of Dampier.
"When the seas cooled with the onset of the most recent ice age, many of the corals contracted north," he added.
Mr Pandolfi is a researcher at the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies in Perth and said that a coral migration was not possible on the east cost because there were not the necessary areas of shallow water to the south of the Great Barrier Reef.
Ray Berkelmans, a coral bleaching expert with the Australian Institute of Marine Science, agrees with the research, which is published in the Global Change Biology journal.
Mr Berkelmans believes that all of Queensland's coral could be gone by 2025 if global warming keeps raising the earth's temperatures.
"Background temperatures have reached the level where every summer we are getting to dangerous conditions," said Mr Berkelmans.
© Adfero Ltd
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