70 pct of world's coral reefs may disappear soon
2010-03-31 11:00:48 GMT2010-03-31 19:00:48 (Beijing Time)
SINA.com
In this undated photo provided by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a healthy coral reef in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands is shown. (AP Photo/NOAA)
This undated Southern Cross University photo shows severe bleaching to coral in the Lord Howe Island Lagoon. The world's southernmost coral reef is on a "knife-edge" after warmer seas blamed on climate change bleached large parts of it for the first time, an Australian scientist warned. (AFP/Southern Cross University/Peter Harrison)
In this Aug. 16, 2008 photo, a parrotfish is shown swimming over a dead coral reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary near Key West, Fla., the US. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
An aerial shot shows the New Caledonia Barrier Reef in the South Pacific. The island chain has enlisted Australia's help to protect the natural site, the world's second biggest reef after Australia's Great Barrier Reef. (AFP/File/Marc Le Chelard)
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority issued photo shows a section of bleached coral reef in Australia. (AFP/Great Barrier Reef Marine Park)
According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, some 19 percent of the world's coral reefs are already gone.
If current trends continue, the agency predicts another two-thirds will disappear by 2032. That's nearly 70 percent of the world's reefs gone in just the next 20 years.
