Dusseldorf. The German branch of the 3rd International Year of the Reef (IYOR 2018) has been officially opened on 28 January in Dusseldorf, Germany during the trade fair „boot“. On this occasion, the ICBM was represented by Prof. Dr. Peter Schupp, head of the research group Environmental Biochemistry at the Institute. For several years, Schupp and his group have been investigating different aspects of reef-forming corals.
The global initiative IYOR was proclaimed for the first time in 1997. Since then, things have not gone too well with coral reefs: In the past two years the world has been facing the most devastating coral bleaching event ever since observations started. More than 90 percent of Australia‘s Great Barrier Reef were affected. As predicted by climate models, up to the middle of the century almost the same amount of reefs will regularly bleach on a global scale, if no countermeasures are taken. To these, anyone could contribute, by e.g. reducing the individual carbon footprint, waste prevention and taking advantage of sustainable tourist offers.
