Coral Reefs
As it has been mentioned before, the increasing ocean acidification has shown to reduce the ability of reef-building and deep sea corals to produce their skeletons. This can severely reduce the ability of coral reefs to recover from other human disturbances such as damage by boats, dynamite fishing or tourism, global warming, increased sedimentation and coral fishing. It is estimated that by the end of this century, the amount of CO2 emissions will cause the coral reefs to erode much faster than they can be rebuilt, causing them to deteriorate. As coral reef ecosystems are very intricate and delicate ecosystems as they are beautiful, this will impact one million species that depend on coral reefs as habitats. Already, one quarter of coral reefs in the world have been destroyed, and scientists predict that most of the coral reefs around Earth will be destroyed within 20 years unless dramatic measures are undertaken.
Coral reef bleaching watch map |
Bleached Coral Reef: Because algae that support coral life can only survive in cool waters, global warming is causing coral to die. |