CORAL REEF DEGRADATION

Causes
 Unsustainable and excessive forms of tourism - Have disastrous
consequences for reefs, on which they ironically depend the most.
The income flow in reef areas is threatened by reef degradation.
The damage on reef is often caused by increased tourism. This is
facilitated by uncontrolled building and irresponsible business
operations, increased discharge of wastewater and incautious
behavior of tourists themselves. Mass tourism is a threat to coral
reefs and with them the income the reefs provide for the local
public.
 Overfishing and destructive fishing methods lead to damage to
both fish stocks and their environment. The problems include
dynamite- and cyanide fishing and trawling. Explosions from
dynamite fishing shatter stony corals and kill fish and
invertebrates (including corals) in a large radius. After some time
a whole reef is damaged. The habitats of the target fish and the
fishermens’ catches are thus destroyed.
 Discharge and pollution originating on land, e.g. industrial waste,
household garbage, agricultural sources and forestry cause great
damage to reefs. Sedimentation by dredging and nutrients in run-
off water lead to a higher turbidity in the water column, which
prevents corals from catching the sunlight they need to grow and
survive. Sunlight is essential for photosynthesis, the primary
source of energy and food for corals and plants.
Effects
 If we reach 450 parts per million of C02 in the atmosphere (as
of January 20, 2018 we were at 408.12ppm), ocean
temperatures will rise 2˚ C, calcium carbonate levels in the
 oceans will decrease, and we will largely destroy all our coral
reefs.Coral reefs provide us with food, construction materials
(limestone) and new medicines—more than half of new cancer
drug research is focused on marine organisms. Reefs offer
shoreline protection and maintain water quality. And they are a
draw for tourists, sometimes providing up to 80 percent of a
country’s total income. Losing the coral reefs would have
profound social and economic impacts on many countries,
especially small island nations like Haiti, Fiji, Indonesia, and the
Philippines that depend on coral reefs for their livelihoods.
How to Prevent
 Have an expansion of Marine Protected Areas where fishing
and fishing methods are regulated.
 Don’t throw your garbages at the ocean
 When vacationing near coral reefs, be careful not to touch
them and break them
 You can also help in foundations that aim to protect them like
the Coral Restoration Foundation which protects and restores
coral reefs through creating coral nurseries and transplanting
corals into reef restoration sites.