Caribbean Reef Coral Dying, Study Reports

Coral reefs across the Caribbean have suffered an 80% decline in the amount covered by live coral during the last three decades, a far more devastating loss than scientists had expected, according to a study in Friday’s issue of Science. The team of researchers gathered information from 65 previous studies of 263 sites and analyzed it to construct a regional picture.

They discovered a sharp drop in the coral almost everywhere in the Caribbean, from Florida to South America. Coral covered about 50% of the average reef in the early 1970s but only 10% now. The researchers attributed the problem to pollution and over-fishing, among other problems.