coral_reef

An Underwater Garden

Threats to Coral Reefs ......

Corals and coral reefs are extremely fragile. Corals grow very slowly, some only 2 or 3 inches a year. Slight changes in the reef environment has bad effect on the health of entire coral colonies.

Humans are some of the greatest dangers to coral reefs. Polluted water from sewage treatment plants and large power plants cause much damage to coral reefs. And reef fish populations have been greatly decreased due to overfishing. This causes the delicate coral reef ecosystems to become unbalanced.

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Corals are also very popular as decorations. When people vacation in tropical locations they want to take coral souvenirs home. In order to do this, they either collect pieces of coral themselves or buy pieces from shops. This is very damaging because a large amount of the most healthy corals are selected

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There are also several natural disturbances which cause damage to coral reefs. Hurricanes, and typhoons bring large and powerful waves to the tropics. These storm waves cause large corals to break apart and scatter fragments about the reefs. After the storm, these slow growing corals might easily be overgrown by quicker growing algae.

There are a great number of threats to coral reefs, but most are caused by humans. Work must be done around the world to protect our threatened reefs.

Threats to Coral Reefs	......
	Corals and coral reefs are extremely fragile. Corals grow very slowly, some only 2 or 3 inches a year. Slight changes in the reef environment has bad effect on the health of entire coral colonies. Humans are some of the greatest dangers to coral reefs. Polluted water from sewage treatment plants and large power plants cause much damage to coral reefs. And reef fish populations have been greatly decreased due to overfishing. This causes the delicate coral reef ecosystems to become unbalanced.
....	Corals are also very popular as decorations. When people vacation in tropical locations they want to take coral souvenirs home. In order to do this, they either collect pieces of coral themselves or buy pieces from shops. This is very damaging because a large amount of the most healthy corals are selected
.	There are also several natural disturbances which cause damage to coral reefs. Hurricanes, and typhoons bring large and powerful waves to the tropics. These storm waves cause large corals to break apart and scatter fragments about the reefs. After the storm, these slow growing corals might easily be overgrown by quicker growing algae.
	There are a great number of threats to coral reefs, but most are caused by humans. Work must be done around the world to protect our threatened reefs.