Coral Reef Facts * Coral reefs are in crisis, dying at an alarming rate worldwide. * An estimated 25% of coral reefs have already disappeared and an estimated two-thirds of all coral reefs are at risk today.1 * An estimated 88% of the reefs in Southeast Asia - the most species rich reefs on earth - are at risk.1 * Since 1975, more than 90% of the reefs in the Florida Keys have lost their living coral cover (study by Dr. Phil Dustan). * Threats to the world's coral reefs include: o Pollution o Disease o Over-fishing o Dynamite and cyanide fishing o Sedimentation o Bleaching caused by rising ocean temperatures * Called the "rainforests of the sea," coral reefs are the greatest expression of ocean life, and the most biodiverse ecosystem on Earth with 30 of 34 known animal phyla present. * Unlike the rainforest, there is no comprehensive global baseline map of living coral reefs. This is urgently needed. A satellite mission dedicated to remote sensing of coral reefs can provide this critical global baseline.

mapping of all the coral reefs on the face of the earth will take a long time since the reefs have to be manually charted because satellite images can not go below the surface of the water in many places due to reflection at the surface and also due to turbidity... remote sensing can not tell the difference between live and dead corals... But it is a good idea to get a baseline map of the living coral reefs...

Dominiquest Please post the citation for the article/s or web site from which you obtained the information for this blog Thank You

This information is not from an article or a website... It is ongoing research being conducted at our research center in Portonovo... The first report will be published soon and once it is done, I will post a copy of the abstract...