Conservationists and ocean lovers: June 1 is our chance to step up and celebrate World Reef Day!<\/p>\n
Coral reefs support more marine species than any other undersea habitat In fact, more than 25% of the ocean’s fish are dependent on healthy coral, and The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that nearly half a billion<\/em> people depend on reefs as sources of food and income from the fishing stocks and tourism opportunities reefs provide.<\/p>\n Our reefs not only buffer shorelines from the destructive effects of hurricanes, but the tiny animals that give rise to reefs even offer hope for new drugs to treat cancer and other diseases.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n (function(d,u,ac){var s=d.createElement(‘script’);s.type=’text\/javascript’;s.src=’https:\/\/a.omappapi.com\/app\/js\/api.min.js’;s.async=true;s.dataset.user=u;s.dataset.campaign=ac;d.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)[0].appendChild(s);})(document,123366,’hvaatcrj8vy1cofhnvqo’); Despite their critical importance, warming waters, pollution, ocean acidification, overfishing and physical destruction are killing coral reefs around the world. A quarter of the world’s coral has disappeared in the last 30 years, and scientists warn that coral reefs could easily be entirely wiped out by the end of the century.<\/p>\n Scientists often compare coral reefs to underwater rainforests, but corals are really animals. The soft polyps inside the hard parts of corals are naturally translucent and get their gorgeously vibrant color from the algae that live inside them. When corals experience stress from either hot temperatures or pollution, they end their symbiotic relationship with this algae, expelling them and then turning white (known as bleaching<\/a>). Corals are still alive when they bleach, but they’re at great risk\u2014essentially immunocompromised\u2014and many eventually starve and die, turning them into dark brown graveyards.<\/p>\n \n
\n<\/p>\nReefs in Trouble<\/h2>\n