Coral Reefs

With the algae .
             gone, the coral skeleton is visible and eventually it dies. Died corals lead further on to the death of the reef. There are four environmental factors that effect their growth: temperature, salinity, water depth, and wave action. These factors exposes the reef to changes in the environment very easily especially since it is located so close to shore. This also makes it hard for all of the species which use the coral reef to survive. Coral reefs are home to perhaps one-fourth of all marine species. This in turns effects the entire ecosystem of the ocean. Pollution by humans have directly or indirectly caused the death of 5%-10% of the world's living reefs, according to marine biologist Clive Wilkinson of the Australian Institute of Marine Science. This estimate didn't take in global warming and ozone depletion as a factor. The pollution is caused by fisheries, oil spills, deforestation, tourists, and even reckless divers. The problems which are getting even bigger is the proble!.
             m of deforestation and reckless divers. In the watershed of Bacuit Bay in the Philippines, deforestation inc! reased erosion into the bay by more that 200 times.(Futurists, 1995) One of the biggest threats to coral reefs are tourists. Last year alone over 1.2 million tourists visited the Great Barrier Reef. (Star-Bulletin, 1995) The tourists are not only fisherman and devoted divers they are also scientists who wanted to see the enormous reef. Every year the numbers of visitors increase by 10%. It has brought many resorts to the area who also want to get into fun and making a little money in the $1 billion business. Even the hotels and the motels pollute the reefs by their drainage and sewage pipes. This is causing a huge problem in coastal tourism which is the world's fastest growing industry, worth over $7 billion annually in the Caribbean.(Star-Bulletin, 1995) Marine Scientists are really worried of how much longer the reef can survive with all these visitors to the reefs.