the Caribbean sea coral cover has disappeared since the 1960s. According to a United Nations Environment Program report, the Caribbean coral reefs might face extirpation in next 20 years due to population expansion along the coast lines, overfishing, the pollution of coastal areas, global warming, and invasive species. In 2005, the Caribbean lost about 50% of its reef in one year due to coral bleaching. The warm water from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands travelled south to cause this coral bleaching. Jamaica Jamaica is the third largest Caribbean island. The Caribbean's coral reefs will cease to exist in 20 years if a conservation effort is not made. In 2005, 34 percent of Jamaica's coral reefs were bleached due to rising sea temperatures. Jamaica's coral reefs are also threatened by overfishing, pollution, natural disasters, and reef mining. In 2009, researchers concluded that many of the corals are recovering very slowly. United States Southeastern Florida's reef track is 300 miles long. Florida's coral reefs are currently undergoing an unprecedented stony coral tissue loss disease. The disease covers a large geographic range and affects many species of coral. In January 2019, science divers confirmed that the outbreak of stony coral tissue that extends south and west of Key West. In December 2018, Disease was spotted at Maryland Shoals, near the Saddlebunch Keys. By mid January 5 more sites between American Shoal and Eastern Dry Rocks were confirmed diseased. Puerto Rico is home to over 5,000 square kilometers of shallow coral reef ecosystems. Puerto Rico's coral reefs and associated ecosystems have an average economic value of nearly $1.1 billion per year. The U.S. Virgin Islands’ coral reefs and associated ecosystems have an average economic value of $187 million per year. Pacific United States Hawaii's coral reefs (e.g. French Frigate Shoals) are a major factor in Hawaii's $800 million a year marine tourism and are being affected negatively by coral bleaching and increased sea surface temperatures, which in turn leads to coral reef diseases. The first large-scale coral bleaching occurred in 1996 and in 2004 it was found that the sea surface temperatures had been steadily increasing and if this pattern continues, bleaching events will occur more frequently and severely. See also Marine cloud brightening References Further reading Barber, Charles V. and Vaughan R. Pratt. 1998. Poison and Profit: Cyanide Fishing in the Indo-Pacific. Environment, Heldref Publications. Martin, Glen. 2002. "The depths of destruction