Importance

• A coral is a tiny animal that looks like an upside-down jellyfish. Corals have been around for more than 500 million years and cover only 2 percent of the ocean’s bottom. According to Ocean World, an online resource reporting the destruction of coral reefs, 10 percent of the world’s reefs have been completely destroyed already. On the same website, it's reported that near the Philippines, where it is the worst, more than 70 percent of the reefs have been destroyed. Since reefs are home to 25 percent of all marine species, their destruction will have a great impact on ocean life with the extinction of its inhabitants.
  
  

Divers

• Divers are one example of dangers to the coral reef. Divers catch fish that live in and around the reef to sell to restaurants. This would be OK, if they didn’t destroy the reef or overfish the area, but they do. Divers blow up a coral reef with explosives and catch the stunned fish, leaving the destroyed coral. They also use cyanide, a poison. They pour it over the reef, killing it and stunning the fish. Then they rip up the reef with crowbars and take the fish out.
  
  

Global Warming and Pollution

• Global warming and pollution also kill the coral reefs. Global warming, caused by air pollution, raises the temperature of the oceans, so the reefs get sick and die. Warmer water encourages the growth of harmful algae. The algae grow on top of the reef and block out the sun, so photosynthesis cannot happen. This eventually kills the reef. The pollution that is dumped in the ocean helps these algae grow. Fish eat algae, thus saving the reef, but due to overfishing there is not enough fish to eat all of them.
  
  

Coral Bleaching

• Coral bleaching is a sign that the reef is in trouble and will eventually die. Bleaching occurs when photosynthesis cannot occur. Any bleaching lasting longer than 10 weeks leads to death. It is caused by changes in the sea’s temperature, sedimentation and freshwater dilution. Poisoning fish living in the reef make it more vulnerable to bleaching as well.
  
  

Saving the Reef

• To stop further destruction of coral reefs, groups around the world have been working to educating people on the importance of coral reefs. Groups also lobby the U.S. Congress and governments around the world to bar selling of fish that are being caught by destroying reefs. They want controls on water and air pollution, too. The most important action that these groups do is making artificial reefs to replace the ones that have been destroyed. This way, marine species still have a home and perhaps won’t become extinct.