A team from the Caitlin Group will soon examine the Caribbean coral reef and expect to find that in recent years 80 percent of it has been destroyed. Climate change, coastal overdevelopment, pollution, and oceanic acidification were specified as the primary culprits.
A team from the Caitlin Group will soon examine the Caribbean coral reef and expect to find that in recent years 80 percent of it has been destroyed.
The experts believe that area conditions have created the perfect storm for the extensive degradation of the marine habitat.
Climate change, coastal overdevelopment, pollution, and oceanic acidification were specified as the primary culprits.
Among the many problems those factors can cause, one of the most significant is coral bleaching. As ocean temperatures rise, the polyps that build the coral structures die off.
As coral disappears, the oceanic food chain becomes increasingly threatened.
Reefs not only provide shelter and breeding areas for smaller marine life, they serve as hunting grounds for larger aquatic inhabitants.
Problems created by Caribbean reef lost extend to the dwellers of dry land as well.
The area’s economy largely depends upon the tourism and fishing opportunities the coral provides.
Worldwide, coral reefs have been valued at up to 170 billion dollars based on the food, jobs, medicines, and coastal protection they provide.
