Besides flooding entire islands and creating freak droughts, rising temperatures and water levels are also damaging the region's fertile topsoil. Salt-water infiltration from rising sea levels is destroying local agricultural production. As a result of the soil's increasing salinity, the islanders can no longer grow root crops, the main regional staple. Even more disturbing is the continued decimation of coral reefs in the Pacific. Once a reef is gone, it can take as long as a century to replace it.
Corals only grow by two centimetres a year.
To the layperson, corals are merely a pretty flourish for hordes of Northern holidaymakers who invade the islands. In addition, reefs play a crucial role in maintaining the delicate balance of ecosystems because they serve as natural barriers to damage from storms and stave off flooding. Their preservation is thus essential in maintaining the fragile coastal eco-balance on which many people depend for their livelihoods. The irreversible damage caused by global warming was confirmed by a recent Greenpeace study.