Coral reefs are being smothered by plastic

Scientists are now saying that plastics are one of the biggest threats to the future existence of coral reefs globally.

Scientists have found that there are more than 11 billion items of plastic waste that have been found on a third of coral reefs in the Asia-Pacific region.  This figure is expected to increase to more than 15 billion items by 2025.

Plastic increases the risk of corals suffering from diseases by 20 times.  The finger like coral is most likely to be affected as plastic gets entangled around it as it settles.

Not only will this issue affect habitats but vital fishing stocks will be lost too, affecting many island communities.

For more information regarding this issue look at the following article: http://science.sciencemag.org/...