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 Save Coral Reefs, Our Paradise on Earth, to Save Ourselves!
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  Email: softcoralchandran@gmail.com
Dr R. Chandran*
Nature created this living planet for us with a nice balance of organic and inorganic components and provided
it with a self-repairing mechanism. Species that are incapable and threatening are always replaced with advanced and useful species through doomsdays. In the past, there were five such doomsdays on our earth, which triggered mass extinctions of many species. Thewell-knownlastmassextinctionhappened 65 million years ago, which wiped off the mighty dinosaurs, making way for the humans to appear on this earth. The mammals would not have flourished well in the presence of dinosaurs on this earth and our entry into this world would not have happened even now. Now, the sixth mass extinction has already started. Global warming, which is responsible
for a few mass extinctions in the past, is the main cause. The warming of the globe takes place at a slow pace. Unfortunately, our greed has accelerated its speed now, which is removing all our natural shields, leading us to extinction, perhaps, within this century itself.
The changing global climate is already distressing nearly all the earth’s ecosystems and biodiversity and pushing them to a high risk of even more serious crisis over the upcoming decades. Global climate predictions foretell more frequent and intense catastrophic environmental events. Coral reefs, one of the most diverse and most productive ecosystems in the world, are highly vulnerable and perhaps the first victims of climate change. These coral reefs are nature’s underwater paradises, created with marvellous architecture and
 * Dr R. Chandran, Post Doctoral Fellow from Marine Biology Regional Station, Zoological Survey of India Chennai, is pursuing his research on “Resilience Assessment and Identifying Local ‘Stock Reefs’ a Novel Proactive Management Approach on India’s Coral Reefs Conservation, In Response to the Ever Increasing Global Warming”. His popular science story entitled “Save Coral Reefs, Our Paradise on Earth, to Save Ourselves!” has been selected for AWSAR Award.


























































































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