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On Wednesday February 9, a summit for the protection of the oceans will open in Brest (Finistère). The seas and oceans represent 70% of the surface of the planet. The large format of Sunday February 6 takes us to where global warming has come to weaken the coral massif, in the Maldives.
They are as beautiful seen from the sky as they are from the bottom of the water. The Maldives, 1,200 islands and one of the richest coral reefs on the planet. Over nearly 2,000 km, it offers fish and other marine animals an essential place to live. But this coral oasis is now in danger. To understand the magnitude of the threat, follow Hassan Ahmed. This diving enthusiast has seen in recent years die before his eyes more than half of the coral that surrounds the island where he lives.
“You can see that a coral is dead when there is no color on it. (…) There is no more animal life around it”, he says. On this patch of the Maldivian reef, the corals have disappeared, this is the consequence of the construction sites which are developing in the atoll, but also of the warming of the waters. The Maldives still has 250 different species of coral. Beyond the environmental issue, coral protection is a matter of survival for the Maldives, because the coral reef protects against rising waters. The country is very threatened.