Coral Reefs Example

Coral Reefs Example Coral Reefs – Book Report/Review Example Coral reefs Coral reefs are marine habitats made by corals from calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are made from stony corals. It is important to note among all the underwater habitats, coral reefs are the most beautiful and diverse. Coral reefs are of great benefit to both the people and the environment. For instance, they offer benefit to people in terms of medicine and food, guard ocean shores from influence of storms and waves, and offer economic benefit to certain countries in form of tourism. Coral reefs are on the decline because of human activities such as thermal bleaching from spike of high ocean temperatures, powerful storms, increased sea acidity, and invasion by predatory starfish. Coral reefs can recover from the damage in a span of 10-20 years from invasion of starfish or bleaching. However, change in climate slow down the recovery of coral reefs. This is because increase in sea acidity caused by oceans absorbing more carbon dioxide and other chemicals is hindering t he ability of coral reefs to develop their calcium carbonate structures. In addition, the reef ecosystem is threatened by the expansion of shipping industries and installation of liquefied and coal natural gas. These activities have mounted pressure on authorities to find out how they can conserve and guard the delicate coral reef. In order to decrease the rate at which coral reefs are declining, it is significant to decrease the emission of green house gases and handle the problem of climate change. Work CitedShah, Anup. Coral Reefs. Web. 4 April 2013. Print.