WRECKING THE REEFS

Once the coral reefs of the Caribbean all shimmered with life. Herds of iridescent parrotfish darted through forests of branching corals. Spiny lobsters lurked in crevices, while squid, spooked by shadows, dissolved into clouds of ink. But now many of these bustling underwater habitats are taking a beating--and the tropical storms that tore through the region in recent weeks are the least of their problems. "Reefs are tough," observes Clive Wilkinson, a biologist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science. "You can hammer them with cyclones, and they'll bounce right back. What they can't bounce back from is chronic, constant stress." The kind of stress, in other words, that is being applied by humans.

Across the globe, from the Gulf of Mexico to the South China Sea, people are killing coral reefs. Cyanide fishing, harbor dredging, coral mining, deforestation, coastal development, agricultural runoff, shipwrecks and careless divers are putting so much pressure on these extraordinary ecosystems that they may not survive beyond the next century. "You can never point to one thing and say it's this that's killing the reefs," Wilkinson observes, "because in reality it's almost everything."

While the evidence for the decline of reefs is based on observations of only a few hundred reefs out of uncounted thousands, scientists around the world are becoming increasingly alarmed. Already, some experts estimate, 10% of the earth's reefs have been mortally wounded. Thirty percent are in critical shape and may die within the next 10 to 20 years. And an additional 30% are coming under such sustained attack that they may perish by the year 2050. "I used to be reluctant to say the sky was falling," says paleobiologist Jeremy Jackson of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute near Panama City, Panama. "I'm not anymore. Today when I go for a swim on a reef in Panama, I cry."

Coral reefs are more than beautiful structures admired by snorkelers and scuba divers. Their stony ramparts serve as storm barriers that protect shorelines and provide ships with safe harbor. Their nooks and crannies accommodate fish and shellfish that are important sources of food and livelihood for millions of people. And like the tropical forests to which they are frequently compared, reefs are repositories of vast biological wealth as yet untapped for medicinal and industrial uses.

To rouse public concern, marine scientists and environmental activists have proclaimed 1997 the International Year of the Reef. They have persuaded the U.S. and other major countries to support a conservation offensive called the International Coral Reef Initiative. And perhaps most important, they have launched an ambitious project called the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, which will conduct the first surveys of the earth's estimated 400,000 sq. mi. of reef, including remote atolls no scientist has ever seen.