Microplastics and Their Effects on Coral Reefs

Coral reefs are one of the most endangered habitats due to climate change, butnot enough attention has been paid to how plastic pollution affects coral reef health. Plasticsare massively produced worldwide for many purposes and they degrade very slowly,breaking down into tiny, invisible particles of ۵ mm or less, called microplastics. When thesetiny particles reach coral reefs, they harm corals by constantly rubbing on them through theaction of waves and currents. Corals may also ingest microplastics and get a false sense of“fullness,” which results in the coral not feeding on nutritious food. Within the coral,microplastics may block the gut and cause internal damage. Also, microplastics, which arealready made of chemicals, can pick up pollutants and harmful microorganisms from theseawater and transfer them to the coral. A reduction of microplastics pollution is thereforeurgent.

کلیدواژه ها:

Microplastics ، Coral reefs ، Pollution ، Marine ecosystems