Coral reefs support an extraordinary diversity

Position 1: Without urgent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, scientists warn that the majority of the world's reefs could collapse within this century.

Position 2: These structures are built primarily by tiny organisms called coral polyps, which secrete calcium carbonate skeletons over thousands of years.

Position 3: However, rising ocean temperatures caused by climate change are triggering mass bleaching events, in which corals expel their symbiotic algae and turn white.

Position 4: Coral reefs support an extraordinary diversity of marine life despite covering less than one percent of the ocean floor.

Position 5: The resulting three-dimensional habitat provides shelter, breeding grounds, and feeding areas for roughly twenty-five percent of all known marine species.