Coral degradation is accelerating.

Evidence is mounting that coral reef degradation has accelerated on a global scale since the late 1970s to early 1980s. Most recently, a large-scale coral bleaching event occurred throughout much of the Caribbean Sea during the summer and fall of 1995. Coral bleaching--a change in the corals' symbiotic relationship with algae--can lead to declines in the over-all health of coral reefs. Bleaching usually is associated with high water temperatures and increased ultraviolet radiation over reefs.

Peter W. Glynn, professor of marine biology at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, points out that much of the worldwide decline of corals has occurred on reefs located near centers of human population, and there is growing evidence that possible global warming could damage reefs in areas far from population centers during the next century. "Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is predicted to double in the next 50 to 100 years, resulting in an elevation of global sea temperatures. If this occurs, corals could continue to decline."

Moreover, rapidly growing human populations in the...