Scientists have studied the Coral reefs which are almost close to the water looking at small portions of reefs to gather data and knowledge about some larger ecosystems. A wider view is observed from NASA`s Jet propulsion laboratory at about 23,000 feet above.
Top Scientists from around the world and NASA are launching a three-year campaign to gather new data on coral reefs. There are some specially designed instruments that are set on high-flying aircraft at the large swaths of coral around the world for better understanding how environmental changes are influencing the delicate and main important ecosystems.
“The idea is to get a new perspective on coral reefs from above, to study them at a larger scale than we have been able to before, and then relate reef condition to the environment,” said Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences’ Eric Hochberg.
In 2015 a statement published by the International Society for Reef Studies Consensus over the past few decades up to 50 percent of the coral reefs which are largely degraded by a combination of global and local factors.
“Just realizing that though you may not see a coral, that you may not have your backyard be within this beautiful environment that we’re in right now, corals are impacting you, they are globally important. We have to understand how they’re changing so we can make some managed decisions about their future,” Gierach said.
“As scientific divers, we’re limited by the depth we can work at and the amount of bottom time that we have while we’re diving, so much of underwater marine science, especially on coral reefs, is a painstakingly slow process,” she said.