Caribbean Coral Reefs Will Disappear Two Decades from Now, Report Warns

Most Caribbean reefs will disappear in the next two decades, according to a new report. Researchers said that around 50 percent of the Caribbean coral reef has declined in the past fifty years, writes Nature World News.

Over the course of three years nearly 90 researchers have worked on the report, Status and Trends of Caribbean Coral Reefs: 1970-2012. Around nine percent of the world's corals live in the Caribbean.

These ecologically diverse reefs are a crucial part of the Caribbean economy, with tourism and fisheries in the Caribbean reefs accounting for as much as U.S. $3 billion annually, writes Nature World News.

Caribbean coral reefs have just one-sixth of original coral cover left. Climate change, oceanic acidification and loss of marine grazers have led to a rapid decline in the number of corals in the region, writes Nature World News.

However, experts have said that restoring populations of parrotfish and sea urchins could slow down the rate of loss. Better coral management techniques and protection from pollution could also help save one of the world's largest biologically diverse areas.

"The rate at which the Caribbean corals have been declining is truly alarming," Carl Gustaf Lundin, Director of IUCN's Global Marine and Polar Program, said in a news release.

"But this study brings some very encouraging news: the fate of Caribbean corals is not beyond our control and there are some very concrete steps that we can take to help them recover."

A disease that affected sea urchins in 1983 led to a rapid decline of the grazer population, writes Nature World News, and overfishing has nearly wiped out parrotfish in the area. Researchers said that the loss of these species has helped algae kill corals. Protecting the grazers could help restore the Caribbean coral reef to some extent, report authors said.

"Even if we could somehow make climate change disappear tomorrow, these reefs would continue their decline," Jeremy Jackson, lead author of the report and IUCN's senior advisor on coral reefs said in a statement.

"We must immediately address the grazing problem for the reefs to stand any chance of surviving future climate shifts."

However, some coral reefs in regions such as Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the northern Gulf of Mexico, Bermuda and Bonaire, have healthy population of corals.

These areas have banned or have at least restricted use of fishing techniques that harm parrotfish populations.