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Coral Crisis
Can scientists save the worlds coral reefs?
BY JOE BUBAR
REEFS AT RISK
A healthy section of the Great Barrier Reef
Jeff Hunter/Getty Images
Coral reefs look like plants, but theyre actually tiny animals that live in huge colonies. Their hard
outer skeletons form reefs. Corals get their nutrients from tiny plant-like organisms (living things)
called algae. The algae live inside corals and give them their color. But when the ocean gets too
warm, corals release the algae. As a result, the corals get bleached white.
Scientists say that bleaching is becoming more widespread as oceans get warmer as part of global
climate change. Some corals can recover from bleaching as the water cools in winter, but that is
getting less likely as winter ocean temperatures rise too. Last year, more than 65 percent of the
corals in the northern part of the Great Barrier Reef died.
Coral reefs are one of the planets most important ecosystems. Reefs cover less than 1 percent of
Earths surface, but theyre home to about one-quarter of all marine species. People who live in
communities near reefs depend on them for food and to attract tourists.
Reefs worldwide suffer from pollution, overfishing, and other dangers, but scientists say climate
change is the biggest threat. They predict that nearly 90 percent of all reefs will disappear by 2050.