- [Narrator] Coral reefs are filled with
colorful ocean life but they're in danger
of dying off.
The planet has already lost 50% of it's coral
in the last 30 years.
If the rest go, consequences would be dire.
Sealife has the most to lose.
Coral reefs cover less than one percent of the ocean floor
but they provide an essential ecosystem
for a quarter of all marine life.
One of these creatures
a type of sea slug is actually an important ingredient
in certain cancer-fighting compounds.
In fact, some estimates predict
we are 300 to 400 times more likely
to find new drugs from coral reef ecosystems
than land-based ones.
But that's only if they survive the next century.
In addition to breakthrough medicines
over half a billion people depend on these reefs
for food and work.
Almost a fifth of the world's protein
comes from seafood with people eating on average
almost 50 pounds per year.
The US fishing industry supports one and a half
million jobs alone,
nearly a quarter of what the US meat and poultry
industry employs.
Without reefs billions of sealife, creatures would suffer.
Millions of people would lose their most significant
food source and economies would take a major hit.
But it's not just about the jobs.
Coral reefs attract tourists to more than 100 countries
and territories worldwide.
These tourists spend billions of dollars
diving into the underwater landscapes.
Without these attractions economists estimate
that coastal tourism would drop by more than nine percent
which is equivalent to about 36 billion dollars.
These reefs also provide protection to the tourist reliant
coastlines.
They act as natural barriers,
canceling out 97% of a wave's strength
and protecting more than 200 million people.
Building sea walls for the same protection
costs two and a half million dollars per mile.
But today humans are putting these all at risk.
Rising ocean temperatures and pollution stress the coral
which can kill entire coral ecosystems
within just a few months.
Half of the US Caribbean coral died in one massive
bleaching event back in 2005.
If we do nothing to cool the oceans
the planet's remaining coral could all be wiped out.