Endangered: 5 of the worlds most endangered coral reefs

Endangered: 
5 of the worlds most 
endangered coral reefs

http://www.care2.com/causes/5-of-the-worlds-most-endangered-coral-reefs.html

5 of the worlds most endangered coral reefs:

° Great Barrier Reef - Australia:

• Suffered a 50% loss in coral over the last 27 years (Data from 2013) - This is nearly as sort as my lifetime so far
• Faces a new threat from the Australian coal industry. This industry wants to build a series of ports adjacent to the reef, to expedite the export of its toxic product. This would require the dredging and dumping of 113 million cubic meters of seabed as well as the traffic of 10,000 coal ships a year across the reef. 

References on the treat from Australian coal industries: 
- http://www.greenpeace.org/india/en/Blog/Campaign_blogs/australias-great-barrier-reef-threatened-by-c/blog/44842/

- http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/coal-development-threatens-great-barrier-reef/

° Southeast Asian Coral Reefs (SEA):

• Contains roughly 34% of the worlds coral reefs
• Unsustainable methods of fishing due to the high demand for seafood in this region cause a large majority of the damage to SEA reefs
• Human activities threaten around 88% of these reefs
• Only 12% of SEA's reefs are classified to be at "low risk" 

Threats to Southeast Florida Coral Reefs:
- http://www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal/programs/coral/threats.htm

References on overfishing:

- http://www.care2.com/causes/is-seafood-sustainable-part-ii-the-overfishing-crisis.html

- http://www.care2.com/causes/overfishing-when-weve-run-out-of-an-endless-resource.html

° Sri Lankan Coral Reefs 

• Over fishing is a commonly known cause of damage to this reef
• The reefs in this area are often mined as a cheap source of building baterial, used in bricks, lime plaster, and road fill. 
• Global climate change causes coral bleaching which in turn causes an increasing reduction in biodiversity of the Caribbean reefs. 

TED Case Study on Coral Mining:
- http://www1.american.edu/TED/SRICORAL.HTM


° Caribbean Coral Reefs:

• Around 2/3 of the Caribbean coral reefs are threatened from human activity
• Coastal developments, often for tourism, directly destroy these reefs
• Sedimentation and pollution smothers corals in the Caribbean reefs, eventually leading to their death
• As with many other reefs, overfishing is another contributing factor
• Sadly due to the successful tourism industry in this area, waste from tankers, cruise ships, and yachts 

Other sources:
- http://www.wri.org/publication/reefs-risk-caribbean

° Kingman

• The Kingman reef is located approximately 1,000 miles southwest of Honolulu 
• Uninhabited and barren coral atoll with a deep lagoon
• it became a US naval reservation in 1934
• Pan Am Air used the lagoon as a station for seaplanes not long before World War II
• Threats include the residual impact of of guano mining, WWII military construction, coral bleaching and invasive species 

Other sources:
- http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-1-4020-6847-8_16#page-1

° Florida

• There has been a 44% decline in coral in this region from 1996-2005
• Population growth in florida state has been a contributing factor to this decline
• Coastal infrastructure such as piping, cables and waste water disposal 
• So called "Beach nourishment projects" mean that large volumes of sand are relocated from offshore to onshore. This can cause heavy impacts on coral reefs through sedimentation, in turn decreasing water clarity and causing light deprivation.

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The following info-graphic highlights the cost reef destruction round the world: