All coral reefs could die within 80 years, says David Attenborough
Sir David Attenborough has said coral reefs could be dead within 80 years time due to environmental pollution and human “maltreatment of the oceans”.
The naturalist, who made the stark warning on Blue Planet II’s final episode on Sunday, said carbon dioxide emissions were making the oceans more acidic.
The growing acidity of the ocean could signal catastrophe for the fragile eco-system of reefs because coral and seashells are dissipating more speedily than sea creatures are able to reconstruct them.
The veteran broadcaster said the world’s oceans were "under threat now as never before” and the reef would be dead by 2100. Sir David said the combination of climate change, plastic pollution and over-fishing was all contributing to the death of coral reefs.
"Coral reefs could be gone by the end of this century," Chris Langdon, professor of Marine Biology and Ecology at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, told Sir David on the show.
The 91-year-old replied: "The cause of this? Carbon dioxide. The more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the more acidic the ocean becomes”.
"Evidence points to the burning of fossil fuels as the primary cause for these increasing levels of carbon dioxide. And this is man-made beyond question?" Sir David asked Langdon.
He replied "beyond question” but said the demise of the reefs could be prevented by moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources such as solar and wind.
“For years we thought the oceans were so vast and the inhabitants so infinitely numerous that nothing we could do could have an effect upon them. But now we know that was wrong,” Sir David said.
“It is now clear our actions are having a significant impact on the world’s oceans. [They] are under threat now as never before in human history. Many people believe the oceans have reached a crisis point.
“Surely we have a responsibility to care for our blue planet. The future of humanity, and indeed all life on Earth, now depends on us.”
Blue Planet II, which was Britain’s most-watched show of 2017 and saw 14 million tune in for the first episode, released an article explaining what can be done to help preserve the sea. The first piece of advice was simple and was just to pick up litter at the beach.
The Great Barrier Reef, which is the world’s largest coral reef system and made up of almost 3,000 individual reefs and 900 islands, was of course included in Sir David’s warning.
Climate change and consequential sea temperature rises are believed to have led to widespread coral “bleaching” of the reef which is located off the Queensland Coast – with the reef also under threat from pollution.
While bleaching is not always fatal for coral last year a study found the “largest die-off of corals ever recorded” with about 67 per cent of shallow water coral found dead in a survey of a 700km stretch.
Unesco has fought against calls to return the reef to its “endangered” list but it has voiced “serious concerns” and called for the Australian government to improve water quality.
Sir David remained ultimately optimistic about the future of coral reefs in his documentary, saying: “We can turn things around, we've done so once before”.
