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7 Mar 2007 16:40:23
A top biologist at the University of Bedfordshire fears the Cricket World Cup will be great for sport – but not such good news for the environment.
Professor James Crabbe fears the new holiday resorts which have sprung up on the Caribbean islands to accommodate the thousands of fans who have jetted over for the tournament, which starts next week, have impacted upon the local tropical environment, particularly coral reefs, which have suffered badly.
Professor Crabbe, Dean of the Faculty of Creative Arts, Technologies and Science, said: “I love my cricket, but the World Cup is bad news for the Caribbean eco-system. Hotel resorts have been built along the coastlines and the developments are destroying the corals and mangrove swamps which provide vital nutrients to help feed the marine life.
“This is on top of the effects of global warming generated by other countries, which has caused a rise in sea levels and raised sea surface temperatures. As a consequence, the Caribbean experienced an increase in hurricane intensity last year, which caused much damage among the corals, particularly coral bleaching, where the corals lose their algal plant cells and soon die. This deprives the local marine life of a much-needed environment and the state of the coral reefs is one of the worst I have seen.”
Professor Crabbe recently won the AVIVA/Earthwatch Award for Climate Change Research. He is working on Earthwatch projects studying Jamaica’s coral reefs and a new conservation research initiative in Belize, as well as setting up an international research project with the Mauritius Oceanography Department, to save coral reef colonies in the Southern African island.
He is using a Video Ray Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), which makes very precise coral growth measurements by image analysis. Professor Crabbe invested in the underwater robot with the prize money he won from the Earthwatch Award.
Professor Crabbe became fascinated by the effects of climate change on coral reef after getting into scuba diving six years ago. He went onto develop a new technique to show the effects of climatic change on the DNA of corals.
To find out more about Professor Crabbe’s research visit www.beds.ac.uk/departments/cats/james-crabbe
Latest news» 2007» Mar» University biologist fears Cricket World Cup will knock environment for six
