Pollution in Gulf waters is getting steadily worse and the damage could soon reach irreversible proportions, an expert has warned.

The four pillars that show their true state - the shoreline, fish stock, coral reefs and mangroves - are all depleting fast, thanks to the inaction of those concerned, said biological sciences professor at the University of Warwick, England, Charles Sheppard.

'Blame it on governments, the people, non-government organisations or just about anybody, the shorelines are decreasing, the fish are dying, corals are lessening and mangroves are disappearing at every place in the GCC,' he said on the sidelines of the Enviro Arabia 2010 Conference, at the Gulf Hotel's International Convention centre.

'Systems are stressed already in this part of the world and one major environmental disaster will break them up,' he said.

'However, governments are taking it upon themselves to help rectify the situation.'

Prof Sheppard said governments should ask themselves how much risk they are willing to take with the environment.

'While in many parts, it might be already too late to take action and correct the situation, in some parts, there is still hope,' he said.

Prof Sheppard said a recent study conducted by a team of 20 international scientists had come to that conclusion.

'They have worked for years in the GCC and have warned the governments that their seas are getting warmer, their fish are dying and corals and mangroves are disappearing,' he stated.

Prof Sheppard said it was practically impossible to reverse the situations that had already gone bad.

'We can seldom recover corals, can never get a shoreline back and it would be difficult to re-build fish stocks. And these are the pillars that determine the state of the seas,' he said.

'When these are affected - and they visibly are - it is bad news. How bad governments perceive them to be is up to them.'

Prof Sheppard said several regional industries were partly responsible for the crisis.

'The petrochemical industry, fertilisers, aluminium and gas are all adding to the already stressed environment.

It is difficult to estimate how long it takes for the final straw,' he said.

Prof Sheppard said the cost of environmental degradation was far more than people realised.

'This is something that cannot be calculated in terms of money because these will have a long-term impact,' he said.

Prof Sheppard said concerted and co-ordinated action between governments and those associated with them was needed.

'Scientists and other experts have often sent out warnings and will continue to do so - it is for the governments and authorities to listen,' he added.

The conference, which ends today, is being held under the patronage of Oil and Gas Affairs Minister and National Oil and Gas Authority chairman Dr Abdulhussain Mirza and organised by the Bahrain Society of Engineers.-TradeArabia News Service