By: Kate P. & Harrison W.
Coral Reefs: The Canaries in the
Coal Mine?
What Are Coral Reefs?
Coral reefs are fish nurseries.
Over 50% of us depend on coral reefs for food.
40,000 seals are killed every year by plastic.
This seal was killed by plastic.
1998, 110 loggerhead turtles washed ashore.57% of them dead from plastic.
Turtles too.
Fish are being killed by plastic and
pollution too. All marine life is in
danger.
So what is killing our coral reefs?
FROM THIS
TO THIS
WE ARE.
Carbon from our cars is acidifying the ocean and warming the climate.
In 1998, 11% of the world’s coral reefs were killed
and 16% were damaged.
Now, 26% are dead.
The garbage and chemicals we are pouring into the ocean are killing us too.
Blue birds are not doing so great either.
Pollution and global warming are harming them too.
Global warming is bleaching coral and is responsible for most of the damage to the Caribbean reefs.
Damaged Caribbean reef.
Global warming is harming all of us. The coral reefs are just the canaries in the coal mine.
But if we work together, we can solve this problem
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
USE REUSEABLE
WATER BOTTLES.
PLASTIC NEVER
GOES AWAY.
Recycle your plastics. Fish and birds eat it and
die.
Only wear sunscreen if
you are going to be in the sun
ALL DAY.
The chemicals
in sunscreen
kill the coral too.
If your friend’s house is just around the
corner, walk. Car exhaust
contributes to global warming
and coral bleaching.
Thank You
Works Cited "Coral." National Geographic. Web. 5 Apr. 2012.
<http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/coral/>.
"Environment News Service." Environment News Service. Web. 5 Apr. 2012. <http://www.ens-newswire.com>.
Gore, Al. Earth in the Balence. New York: Houghton Miffllin, 1992. Print.
Kurlansky, Mark, and Frank Stockton. World without Fish. New York: Workman Pub., 2011. Print.
"The Ocean." National Geographic. Web. 5 Apr. 2012. <http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-marine-
pollution/>. "Pollution." NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program:. Web. 5 Apr.
2012. <http://coralreef.noaa.gov/threats/pollution/>. Pubmed. "National Center for Biotechnology Information." National
Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Web. 4 Apr. 2012. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov>.
Talen, Maria. Ocean Pollution. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 1991. Print.