07/13/2026
Start the week on a positive note by learning about the good work Florida scientists and researchers are doing to make a difference for our ocean and coasts!
The South Florida Sun Sentinel recently highlights how Florida experts are restoring our reefs even as oceans warm.
Florida’s coral reefs are rapidly disappearing due to rising ocean temperatures, putting coastal communities, infrastructure, and the state’s fishing industry at risk. Once covering about half of Florida’s sea floor, reefs now cover less than 5%. Scientists warn that coral loss weakens a natural barrier that absorbs wave energy, increasing coastal erosion, flooding, and storm damage.
Researchers are working to restore reefs through coral-growing and planting programs, while the University of Miami is developing “hybrid reefs” that combine artificial structures with heat- and climate-resilient corals. These efforts aim to help reefs adapt to warming oceans and support long-term coastal protection. Scientists emphasize that restoration is critical, as Florida’s reefs are currently eroding faster than they can recover, and the impacts of continued decline could be far greater than many people realize.
Florida’s coral reef, which spans 350 miles and is the third-largest barrier reef system in the world, is dying. And Broward and Miami-Dade university researchers are working to fix it.
