Now Is the Time to Take Steps to Protect Tropical Coral Reefs

Human impact on tropical reefs is comparable toeffect that runs right up the ecological chain.
the negative impact that humans have had on theSaving the coral reefs is important because
rain forests of the planet. Unfortunately, when itgorgeous fish species such as the Queen
comes to tropical coral reefs and the ocean inAngelfish rely on it for their inherent survival.
general, people tend to assume that everythingDue to the fact that biosystems such as coral
will take care of itself and out of sight means outreefs can be viewed as biological canaries in the
of mind. There are currently over one-hundredearths coal mine, intelligent people around the
and fifty dead zones that appear annually in theglobe are becoming alarmed at the stark
oceans of the planet and these are areas thatimplications. As the oceans of the planet begin to
become completely devoid of any life formswarm and the life in them begins to disappear,
other than bacteria.higher seafood prices are the least of mankind's
One in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast ofworries. The oceans run the earths weather and
Louisiana stretches for more than seven hundredcontrol its climate, so damaging the oceans of the
miles and is a result of agricultural run off in theplanet is akin to using ones own drinking water
Mississippi river drainage system. Global warming issupply for a sewer pond. A warming climate
to blame for much of the destruction of coraldoesn't mean warmer weather, because when
reefs of the world, as even a slight rise in waterthe polar ice caps melt the ocean currents will
temperature can have devastating effects on thestop and the ocean currents are what power our
sea life in a coral reef. Coral reefs are a complexweather. This means that the U.S. and Canada will
biosystem where a litany of life forms interactsbe stuck with a permanent winter that will trigger
with each other symbiotically and disrupting one ofan ice age.
the organisms in this system can have a ripple