Global climate change may be showing its impact on the Indian shores as scientists report that coral reefs around the country could see their severe decline starting in next three to four decades resulting from increase in the sea temperature.
Not only coral reefs around Lakshadeep, four other regions around Indian coastline -- Andaman, Nicobar, Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Mannar -- having majority of Indian coral reefs are also facing extreme threat resulting from changes in the temperature of the sea.
A team of researchers led by Dr E Vivekanandan at Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi used data produced by Nobel prize winning IPCC and projected that increase in sea surface temperature will induce coral bleaching -- a phenomenon in which corals lose their microorganisms that give them vibrant colours and nutrition.
Rise in sea surface temperature can increase frequency of such events which could ultimately weaken the reefs and damage corals in the Indian sea, Vivekanandan told PTI.
“The IPCC has projected that at the end of this century the increase in the sea surface temperature could be 2.5 degrees Celsius. We have seen that Indian seas have become warmer in last 50 years. If this trend continues and corals are not able to adapt, we will see this change happening,” Vivekanandan said.
