A photo essay on coral reef restoration efforts in Florida 

from Yale’s Climate Connections

Over the past 40 years, nearly 90 percent of live corals on reefs in the Florida Keys have been lost. Worldwide, tropical coral reef coverage has declined by 30% to 50% since the 1980s as climate change raises temperatures, sea levels, and ocean acidity. Authors of a recent study predict catastrophic effects on coral reefs throughout the world from an increase of 1.5 degrees C above pre-industrial levels. 

Those corals will be missed. These ecosystems cover less than 1 % of Earth’s surface, but they feed and shelter more than a quarter of all marine fish species, as well as many other marine animals.