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Disappearing coral reefs - 14th May 2021

Scientists all over the world are worried about coral reefs. Coral reefs are slowly disappearing.

These coral reefs are in Panama. They are badly damaged.

Scientists have made these unusual boxes to help the coral reefs. They attract sea life and offer a place for corals to develop.

Student volunteers study the new corals. They record information for scientists.

Hong Kong has about 84 different kinds of coral in its sea. Scientists here have used 3D printing to make terracotta tiles. They place the tiles on the seafloor. The tiles make a safe place for coral to grow.

Student Vriko Yu is pleased the tiles are attracting lots of fish.

Vriko Yu: "I still remember the first time we put down the tiles. There were a few fishes around the tiles and it was making me really excited. But this time, or even last time that we revisited the tiles, we can see there are a lot more groups of fishes, and different kinds of fishes.’’

Professor David Baker thinks there may be new homes for coral in the future.

David Baker: "In my imagination, we think about climate change is happening, it's going to warm our waters considerably, but as we start to clean up the waters as well through various government initiatives, we might actually be creating a new potential home for corals as they try to escape climate change from equatorial regions."

Louis Hadjioannou is an ecologist from Cyprus. He is concerned about global warming.

Louis Hadjioannou: "In the year 2015 when we had an anomaly of I think it was one temperature higher [degree Celsius] than the maximum normal one, we got more than 20 to 30 percent of corals dying.”

Hadjioannou wants to teach children about coral reefs. This is the best way to prepare for the future.

Louis Hadjioannou: "Our aim is to primarily educate children, they are the future. They are the ones who are going to become the future conservationists, the future government, the future users of this island and the coastal area.”