The changing seas
September 30th, 2009 | Published in blog
Since the 1970s, Billy Causey has observed ominous signs of change in the coral reefs of the Florida Keys. Causey is the southeast regional director for the National Marine Sanctuary Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He has spent decades diving on Florida’s coast, where he has witnessed the effects of warming waters and ocean acidification on reef ecosystems.
“I think in our lifetime, we’re going to have to be prepared to see corals change,” Causey said. “The fact that corals are telling us, ‘Change is coming,’ is something we need to be paying attention to.”
At his seaside office in Key West, Fla., I talked with Causey about how corals are changing and why most tourists do not notice the difference.
(Cross-published from the Yale Forum on Climate Change & the Media.)
