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EarthTrends Update January 2006
Often called the rainforests of the marine world, coral reefs are among the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the planet. Reefs provide surrounding communities with food, medicine, storm protection, and income from tourism. Like rainforests, however, coral reefs are particularly vulnerable to human activities such as coastal development, sedimentation, pollution, and destructive fishing. An estimated 58 percent of the world's coral reefs are threatened as a result of human activities.
A rapidly emerging new threat to coral reefs is rising carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In addition to raising sea surface temperatures through human-induced climate change (see quote at right), recent studies demonstrate that a strong correlation exists between rising CO2 emissions and increased acidity in ocean waters. As oceans become more acidic the calcium carbonate skeletons of coral and plankton degrade, effectively threatening the health of entire coastal and marine ecosystems.
The World Resources Institute (WRI) has extensively studied threats to coral reefs and marine ecosystems. WRI's Reefs at Risk project researches natural and anthropogenic effects on coral reef health. In 1998, a global assessment developed map-based indicators to measure threats to coral reefs in six regions. More recently, WRI's regional reports for Southeast Asia (2002) and the Caribbean (2004) have been influential in formulating reef policies within the regions. In order to help promote policymaking and further research, each report is supplemented by a data CD containing the tools and spatial data necessary to carry out further analyses. Country-level CDs have also been released for Belize (2005) and for the US Caribbean (2005), the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
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