Threats to the Coral Reef
Clean water is vital for both communities and coral reefs. Around the world, water pollution from land-based sources causes severe damage to coral reefs, poses risks to human health and threatens the tourism industry. Directly discharged sewage and inadequately treated wastewater from cesspools and septic tanks allow high levels of nutrients, bacteria, chemicals and pathogens to enter the marine environment. Other land-based activities—like farming, logging, road construction, animal husbandry and mining—produce pollutants such as sediments, fertilizers and pesticides which run off the landscape when it rains and end up in the ocean. An overabundance of nutrients (called eutrophication) in marine environments upsets the delicate balance of coral reef ecosystems. For example, excess nitrogen from wastewater or fertilizer enables the overgrowth of algae which can kill corals by smothering them, blocking their access to sunlight and promoting the growth of harmful bacteria. High levels of sediment runoff can also kill corals by suffocating them and blocking their access to sunlight.
Injection WellsSedimentationChemical RunoffOverfishingTrash
Injection WellsSedimentationChemical RunoffOverfishingTrash