1/12/2024 #kihei #coral #reef #environment

“They found that the nation’s reefs spare about 18,000 people and $1.8 billion in economic assets from floods each year. The results, published in a USGS paper in 2019 and the journal Nature Sustainability in 2021, also showed that states with highly developed coastlines, like Hawai’i and Florida, have hundreds of millions of dollars in property value reliant upon this protection. In places with vulnerable populations living in low-lying areas, like Pacific Island territories, reefs defend thousands of souls. But shave off just one meter, or about 3 feet, of coral reef, the scientists said, and all of them were exposed. Their conclusion: Preserving that yard was a very sensible use of money.”

Read the article:

https://grist.org/oceans/the-business-case-for-saving-coral-reefs/