WangoTANGo
New member
i was reading through this month's popular science magazing, and there was an interesting article on how the earth has changed from human action, and what the future looks like. there was a page devoted to the wild coral reefs and i thought i might give an exerpt;
0.2% of the ocean floor is covered in live reefs, but the reefs are home to more than 1-million species (25%), including over 4,000 types of fish.
58% of the world's coral reefs are located within 50 kilometers of major urban centers.
sponges from the caribbean are used in HIV and cancer medications, icluding Ara-A, Ara-C, and AZT.
reefs generate $30 billion in revenue each year. with their current rate of decline, the caribbean alone will loose about $350 million annually.
1/3 of all reef fish are labeled endangered, and some reefs have fish fewer than 10cm long due to overfishing.
15,000 dives are performed annually on the reefs around the cayman islands. the reef can only support about 5,000 without damage to the corals.
of the approximate 284,803 square kilometers of coral reef on earth, 20% is dead, 30% is under no immediate threat, 26% is under long-term threat, and 24% is under immediate threat. damage to the reefs is caused by; 12% marine pollution (boats), 36% by tourism and overfishing (includes use of nets, rocks, dynamite, cyanide, and people). 22% is caused by inland pollution, and 30% is caused by coastal developement.
after a mass bleaching event in 1998 caused by El Nino which killed about 16% of the world's reefs, nearly half of that which was lost has regrown thanks to protected areas and fish and coral harvesting restrictions.
i just thought this was an interesting article to share with people who care about reefs. again, i paraphrazed it from an article in the latest popular science.
-Justin
0.2% of the ocean floor is covered in live reefs, but the reefs are home to more than 1-million species (25%), including over 4,000 types of fish.
58% of the world's coral reefs are located within 50 kilometers of major urban centers.
sponges from the caribbean are used in HIV and cancer medications, icluding Ara-A, Ara-C, and AZT.
reefs generate $30 billion in revenue each year. with their current rate of decline, the caribbean alone will loose about $350 million annually.
1/3 of all reef fish are labeled endangered, and some reefs have fish fewer than 10cm long due to overfishing.
15,000 dives are performed annually on the reefs around the cayman islands. the reef can only support about 5,000 without damage to the corals.
of the approximate 284,803 square kilometers of coral reef on earth, 20% is dead, 30% is under no immediate threat, 26% is under long-term threat, and 24% is under immediate threat. damage to the reefs is caused by; 12% marine pollution (boats), 36% by tourism and overfishing (includes use of nets, rocks, dynamite, cyanide, and people). 22% is caused by inland pollution, and 30% is caused by coastal developement.
after a mass bleaching event in 1998 caused by El Nino which killed about 16% of the world's reefs, nearly half of that which was lost has regrown thanks to protected areas and fish and coral harvesting restrictions.
i just thought this was an interesting article to share with people who care about reefs. again, i paraphrazed it from an article in the latest popular science.
-Justin