Saving Our Coral Reefs

Coral reefs are beautiful and colorful. They are the base and foundation for many ecosystems and underwater livelihoods, breathtaking, original, and different in their own way. Being animals and forming symbiotic relationships, these have a long history and beneficial characteristics. Almost one million species of fish and other creatures and plants are in and around coral reefs.

But there's one problem: these beautiful creatures are dying -- by big numbers.

Due to global warming, corals are dying from the increased heat in the oceans. We don't notice much difference on land because oceans trap about 93% of the heat caused by this. And over the years, although corals take up about less than 1% of the ocean floor already, the number of thriving corals has gone down drastically, and we have lost around 50% of the world's corals already in just 30 years. Not only that, but within that 50%, Florida has lost about 80-90% of its coral as well.

And even though many people might not notice the change and go on like this is just a phase, the coral reefs do more than just support the underwater ecosystem and chains, they affect over half a billion people in this world because of the food and income they provide. Many coastal communities depend on the coral to survive, since the underwater and above - water ecosystems are connected so much in that way.

Even life - saving drugs that treat illnesses such as cancer come from the reefs, benefiting many people, some of whom might not be alive today without the help of the reefs.

Not only that, just seeing pictures of those miles and miles of dead coral or white, bleached coral with tiny fish and other creatures helplessly looking for food makes one feel empathetic and sad. You could clearly see that not only does it support many ecosystems, but it brings out an emotional aspect as well. You could easily see how when you see alive, colorful coral, you're way happier than when you see dead ones.

So what can we do?

All we can do now is to support each other and the campaign to reduce global warming and pollution to prevent more coral reefs from bleaching or dying. We have to realize how many communities and ecosystems we're affecting even with increasing one or two degrees Celsius.

Without coral reefs, we wouldn't have such a wonderful underwater ecosystem, and about a sixteenth of the world's population wouldn't be able to thrive.

Works Cited:

Images from Wix and NY Times

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/Coral

Chasing Coral Documentary