|
|
Article: A Worldwatch Addendum.(coral reef damage)(includes table Status of Coral Reefs Around the World)(Statistical Data Included)
- Article from:
- World Watch
- Article date:
- May 1, 2001
- Author:
-
|
Copyright informationCOPYRIGHT 2001 Worldwatch Institute. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
On a global scale, add climate change, coral mining, toxic dumping, and over fishing to the phalanx of forces destroying coral reefs.
AS OF LATE 2000, AN ESTIMATED 27 percent of the world's coral reefs were severely damaged, according to the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network. In 1992, the figure was only 10 percent, so the health of reefs is deteriorating quickly. The greatest losses have occurred in the Indian Ocean, in the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf, and in Southeast Asia. (See table, opposite.)
More than 100 countries--many of them small islands--rely on coral reefs for essential goods and services valued at some $375 billion a year. Reefs ...