Solutions to Coral Reef Destruction

Solutions Document

Now that we’ve educated you on the causes of Coral bleaching, you may be wondering what you could do to help. Here are 3 things that we can do to reduce coral bleaching worldwide:

1.       Purchase sunscreens that don’t contain paraben, cinnamate, or benzophenone. These chemicals harm coral reefs when you go into the ocean and activate a virus in the zooxanthellae, the symbiotic algae that gives the coral its color, which reproduces until the host explodes releasing more of this dangerous virus into the environment. 10% of the world’s coral reefs are threatened by sunscreen residue. We can definitely reduce this number by simply being smarter shoppers.

2.       Enforce stricter fishing standards. Using cyanide and explosives when fishing are not healthy to the environment and should be outlawed. The cyanide poisons the coral and everything living around it and the explosives turn beautiful organisms into nothing more than rubble. We should investigate safer fishing practices so that we may protect such fragile environments.

3.       Enforce strict environment conservation rules. Tourist should no longer take pieces of coral as souvenirs. People need to understand that by doing such things they are disrupting an ecosystem and that every bit counts.

Link:

Than, K. (2008, January 29). Swimmers sunscreen killing off coral. Retrieved from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080129-sunscreen-coral.html

(2010). Threats to coral reefs. San Francisco, CA: Retrieved from http://www.coral.org/resources/about_coral_reefs/threats_to_coral_reefs