Coral+Reef+Conservation

Rida A. Ilze V. Isabelle S.

10% of the earths reefs have been comepletely destroyed. There are two ways people have helped destroy the Earth's coral reefs, indirectly and directly. Indirectly, they have destroyed their environment. Coral reefs can live only within a certain temperature range. Global warming has raised the temperature of the oceans so high that the coral get sick and die. Even a rise of one degree in the average water temperature can hurt the coral. Directly, humans phisically kill them. All over the world, divers catch the fish that live in and around coral reefs. They sell the fish to restaurants and pet stores. This would be OK if the divers caught the fish carefully with nets and didn't hurt the reefs or take too many fish. But most of them divers are not very well trained at fish catching. Often they blow up a coral reef with explosives (picture below) and then catch all the stunned fish swimming around. This completely destroys the reefs, killing the coral polyps that make it as well as many of the plants and animals that call it home.

Humans need to be informed about the horrible pollution problem that is taking place in many parts of the world. Pollution can kill reefs from poisons and heavy metals. The pollution enters the ocean by oil spills, acid rain, dumping of hazardous waste, exhaust pollution from boats, jet skis, and many more sources that people dont even pay attention to. The pollution enters the coral through the polyps, and the heavy metals from the pollution can kill the animals. It takes 2 million years for coral reefs to recover. The helpless sailors also crash into huge coral reefs and destroy them. Many organizations are trying to develop coral reef conservations. This will enable the ships to sail across the reefs and fisherman to fish or make explosions to shock the fish. To help reduce polution walk, bike or ride the bus to reduce oil spillings in the coral reef.

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