Coral in Caribbean, Florida in sharp decline, ‘no signs of slowing,’ reports find

Over the last couple decades coral reef population has declined significantly and shows no signs of slowing down. In the 1970’s approximately 50% of reefs had living coral on them. Today that number has been reduced to a staggering 8%. Although this number is not uniform for all reefs around the world it is a wakeup call that some serious action needs to be taken immediately in order to restore the coral population. Areas where the reefs are being affected the most are ones who are influenced more by human impact. For example, the Florida Keys, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico has had a progressive decline in coral from 25-35% in the ‘70’s to 15% today compared to the islands of Curacao and Bonaire (located just north of South America) who have declined a little slower leaving them with 25-30% today.

Although there are many reasons for the degeneration of the reefs the main cause is ocean warming, which is caused by the increase of greenhouse gas emissions. Other sources include human sewage, disease, pollution, overfishing, hurricanes, and coral bleaching. In an effort to stop this from continuing the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) is urging nations to step up efforts to reduce fossil fuel reliance, thereby reducing greenhouses gases. It is also urging nations with coral reefs in their water to limit fishing through catch quotas, create or extend marine protected areas, and control or stop the runoff from sewage and fertilizers infested land.
Coral reefs are important because they provide habitat for many fish and other types of food. They are also important to economic growth through fisheries, diving, and tourism. They are also significant for their natural beauty.

Currently coral “nurseries” are one approach being used to recolonize coral on Florida’s reefs and other parts of the world.