Warm and fuzzy

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Caribbean coral reefs suffered tremendous damage during record-high water temperatures two years ago and are at risk of extinction if global warming continues, the World Conservation Union warned Friday.

The world’s largest environmental group issued its gloomy assessment on its website, noting that more than half the corals in the U.S. Virgin Islands were killed by the warm-water surges of 2005 and that Trinidad and Tobago lost 73% of its reefs.

Coral reefs are vital to tourism, fisheries and coastal protection, the Swiss-based union noted, estimating their value to the Caribbean economy at $4.6 billion a year.

-- Carol J. Williams in Miami