Kolkata, Nov. 4 -- Scientists from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have co-authored a landmark global assessment projecting all four of India's coral reef regions to be critically endangered over the next 50 years due to rising ocean temperatures and marine heat stress.
The first global assessment of coral reef ecosystems under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Ecosystems was unveiled at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia.
Four ZSI scientists - C Raghunathan, Tamal Mondal, J S Yogesh Kumar and Chandran Rethinaraj - contributed to the South Asian assessment through research in marine biodiversity, coral taxonomy, reef mapping and long-term monitoring.
India's four reef regions - Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, and Gulf of Kachchh - were earlier classified as vulnerable or endangered. However, projections of marine heat stress over the next five decades have placed all four in the critically endangered category. The assessment covered 13 ecoregions across South Asia, spanning 8,282.6 sq km. All 13 are projected to face a critically endangered future.
India contributed 162 of the region's 350 monitoring sites, accounting for 46.3 per cent of the total, the largest national contribution.
Globally, 96 per cent of assessed coral reef units, representing 99.8 per cent of the total reef area, face a critically endangered future when projected ocean warming is considered.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.