Coral reefs are on track to become the first ecosystem actually eliminated from the planet, a potential eradication being caused by us. Human activities are creating enormous changes on this planet which sustains us, and the alarming plight of coral reefs is just one of these. On this episode of Locus Focus we talk with ecologist Peter Sale, whose new book Our Dying Planet uses the motif of endangered coral reefs to explore the many ways we are changing our planet and to explain why it matters. But despite the gloomy title, Sale's book emphasizes that a gloom-and-doom scenario is not inevitable. We'll explore alternative paths that Sale believes show the ways in which science can help us realize a better future.
Peter F. Sale is Assistant Director of the Institute for Water, Environment, and Health at United Nations University and University Professor Emeritus at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada. His previous books include The Ecology of Fishes on Coral Reefs, Coral Reef Fishes, and Marine Metapopulations.
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