Between 1999 and 2001, scientists from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada, and the University of Miami in Florida, USA, collected data on the health of reef systems at 322 sites in 13 Caribbean countries. They then compared these results with data on human population density and coastal development, as well as records of water temperature and hurricane activity. They found compelling evidence to suggest that proximity to humans is a determining factor in the rate and severity of coral degradation.

‘The greater the number of people living close to the coral reef, the more degraded the reef,’ said Dr Camilo Mora of Dalhousie University. ‘The continuing degradation of coral reefs may soon be beyond repair if threats are not identified and rapidly controlled.’


March 2008