Threats to Coral Reefs

Threats to Coral Reefs. . , Coral reefs are in danger. If conditions remain as they are, scientists will predict that more than 90 percent of the world's coral reefs will die by 2050. The biggest threats to reefs are climate change, pollution, and overfishing., Climate Change , Increased levels of greenhouse gases, produced by human activities, are causing oceans to warm up and become more acidic., Rising water temperatures can cause corals to expel the beneficial algae living in their tissues, a condition known as coral bleaching, leaving them with vulnerable to disease and death., Increasing acidity makes it harder for corals to build the calcium carbonate skeletons they need to grow and survive., Pollution , Almost everything that flows into our water eventually finds its way into the ocean. Rising human populations and the development of coastal areas have led to increased pollution through toxic chemicals, oil, sewage, and agricultural runoff, which threaten the health of coral reefs., Overfishing , Fish that live in coral reefs are a significant source of food for more than a billion people worldwide. But unsustainable fishing practices, such as using bottom trawls (fishing nets that are dragged across the ocean floor) and dynamic fishing can damage coral and disrupt the ecosystem.