Coral reefs – global issues

Coral reefs: ecosystems of ecological and human value

Coral reefs cover an area of ​​more than 280,000 square kilometers² and supporting thousands of species in what many describe as rainforests in the seas.

Coral reefs benefit the environment and people in many ways. For example, h

• protection of beaches from the influence of waves and storms;
• providing benefits to humans in the form of food and medicine;
• Providing economic benefits to local communities from tourism.

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Coral reefs are dying around the world

A report from the World Resources Institute (WRI) in 1998 suggested just as much 60% of coral reefs on Earth are threatened by human activity.

Scientists have said that up to 95 percent of Jamaica’s coral reefs are dying or dead.

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Global threats to coral reefs

Around the world, much of the world’s marine biodiversity is facing threats from activities and events such as

• coastal development;
• Overfishing;
• indoor pollution
• global climate change.

Climate change is causing global mass coral bleaching

Almost all types of corals are believed to have been Affected by rising sea surface temperatures During 1998 and the El Niño phenomenon at that time, which led to global coral bleaching and death.

2002 was then the second worst year for coral bleaching after 1998.

Scientists have always been pessimistic about the futureSome coral reefs are expected to disappear by 2020.

Additional scientific research, reported by green area She fears climate change will wipe out coral reefs in many areas:

If climate change is not stopped, coral bleaching is set to steadily increase in frequency and intensity worldwide until it occurs annually by 2030-2070.

This would destroy coral reefs globally to the point that they could be wiped out from most areas of the world by 2100. Current estimates are that coral reefs could take hundreds of years to recover. The loss of these fragile ecosystems would cost billions of dollars in lost revenue from tourism and fishing industries, as well as damage to coastal areas currently protected by coral reefs that line tropical coastlines.

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The legacy of nuclear tests

In 1995, France It began testing its nuclear weapons in the Pacific despite massive protests (although other nuclear states often critical of other countries conducting nuclear tests, such as Britain, did not criticize France). It has now appeared that coral reefs in areas of French Polynesia where several nuclear tests were conducted have been damaged, as acknowledged by the French Atomic Energy Commission. This raises concern as to what they may have failed to tell the people they have to live through in that area.

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more information

For more information about coral reefs, you can start from the following:

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