What's The Big Deal?
The richer the diversity of life, the greater the opportunity for medical discoveries, economic development, and adaptive responses to such new challenges as climate change.
Concerns about coral reefs have been raised for many years. They are integral to the well being of the oceans, similar to what trees provide for humans. Under the threat of decreasing biodiversity, coral reefs would not be able to Protect shores from the impact of waves and from storms, provide benefits to humans in the form of food and medicine or provide economic benefits to local communities from tourism.
The rapid climate change and accelerating biodiversity loss risks human security (e.g. a major change in the food chain upon which we depend, water sources may change, recede or disappear, medicines and other resources we rely on may be harder to obtain as the plants and fauna they are derived from may reduce or disappear, etc.).
