Many marine biologists have warned that the world’s coral reefs, and the biodiversity they support, will disappear by the end of the century if the predicted rise in temperatures occurs.
“Unless something very remarkable happens during December's climate talks, the world’s reefs will be reduced to slime-covered rubble by 2050," Alex Rogers, of the London-based Institute of Zoology, told The Observer.
Collecting coral specimens and preserving them in cryogenic vaults was one of the ways to cope with climate change discussed at a meeting in Copenhagen by the group Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment.
Most attending the gathering agreed that there is little chance that the world’s governments will agree to a plan stringent enough to prevent the predicted rise in temperatures this century.
Rogers says that only through dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, coupled with massive projects to actually remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, can the world’s coral reefs be saved.