31 August 2008

How Fast Are The Reefs Disappearing?

Coral reefs are home to 25 percent of the world's marine fish species, and cover 1 percent of the Earth's surface. But they will be soon destroyed if we do not try to save them. Did you know that around 30 percent of the world's coral reefs are already damaged, some irreparably? At the present rate, by the year 2050, 70 percent of the world's reefs will have disappeared!

Coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region - where 75 percent of the world's reefs live - are now being destroyed at a rate of 1 percent a year. That doesn't sound like a lot, but it is actually twice as fast as the rate of destruction of tropical rainforests!

In the early 1980s, around 40 percent of the region's reefs hosted live coral -- today it is just 2 percent. Now do you see how disastrous the situation is?

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