| Description |
Present and Looming Threats to U.S. Coral Reef Habitats Every evaluation and workshop report published in the past decade and a half identifies climate change, land-based sources of pollution, and over-fishing as the most important causes of coral reef degradation. The importance of these causes was very recently underscored when the US Coral Reef Task Force (USCRTF) and NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) developed a set of nationally established strategic priorities to address efforts for understanding and addressing the same three issues as the top global threats to coral reef ecosystems. Three of the most significant land-based pollutant threats to coral reefs are sediment, nutrients, and contaminants. Sedimentation, including high levels of suspended sediment in overlying waters, is commonly acknowledged to be one of the primary causes of reef degradation. |
