You’re in the ocean. You’re face down with a snorkel in your mouth as your back absorbs the sun. You are scouring the ocean floor for fish and multicolored coral reefs and you find that the reefs are there, but not what you would expect to see — there are no rainbow colors of coral or bountiful fish, but what looks like a graveyard. The coral is there but it’s as if it has been covered with a layer of white paint, masking the various colors. And you see maybe a dozen fish swimming, as if they are lost.

This grim picture is not something out of an Edgar Allen Poe poem, but is seen across the globe in our own oceans. When the ocean waters become too warm (#global warming), the corals will release their algae that gives them their miraculous colors and will therefore become white — this is called coral bleaching. Because coral and algae live harmoniously, algae in short make the coral’s food for them. No algae, no food, no coral.

So what? According to the Nature Conservancy, coral reefs provide shelter for nearly 25 percent of marine life … that is well over 250,000 species that will be displaced and most likely die. Along with the thousands of species of marine life that rely on coral reefs for shelter and food, billions of dollars will be lost in tourism and fishing. According to the Earth Institute of Columbia University, coral reefs have an economic value of $375 billion in tourism and fishing and an invaluable source to the oceans’ ecosystem. Also, more than 500 million people are provided food and other resources by coral reefs.

Ignoring the problem is not an option. Reduce your carbon footprint and allow generations to come enjoy these spectacular works of nature.

Kasey Uetrecht

Oregonia