REEFS IN PERIL
As of 2004, 20% of the world’s reefs were damaged beyond the point of foreseeable recovery, and 24% were under threat of collapsing. In 1998, the same year as the top panel in the diagram at right, 60% of reefs were threatened by human activities. The number is surely higher today. The harmful human activities include the release of Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere, pollution from runoff, beachfront development, and harmful fishing practices. (Shah, 2013)