Data from more than 35,000 surveys suggests that habitats have declined by more than 50% since the 1970s.

 

The report's authors believe that over-fishing and disease is mainly to blame.

 

They say the trend could continue if nothing is done, but with protection the reefs could bounce back.

 

Carl Gustaf Lundin, director of IUCN's Global Marine¹ and Polar Programme, said the findings were alarming. 

 

"The reefs support a number of different countries and populations," he said.

 

"Tourism is one of the biggest industries, and the health of the reef is essential to the well-being² of many of the people living there. And of course they are immensely beautiful and wonderful places as well."

 

The report, which was also authored by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, looked at data collected between 1970 and 2012 from 90 reef habitats and is the most comprehensive assessment³ of corals in this region.

 

The authors concluded that many reefs in the Caribbean were undergoing a dramatic transformation⁴ - changing from colourful realms, bursting with life, to barren habitats, covered in slimy algae⁵.

 

They said the damage had been driven by the loss of some of the reefs' key inhabitants.

 

In the 1980s, a disease, thought to have been brought in from the Panama Canal, wiped out a large number of sea urchins⁶（海胆）. While fishing on the reefs has also caused parrotfish to plummet⁷.

 

Both of these creatures graze on reefs, and without them, algal species take over.

 

Dr Lundin said: "We saw that reefs with no grazers ended up getting smothered⁸ by algae. And after a period of time they see a significant or even complete collapse⁹ of the reef area."

 

He said that if no action was taken, the outlook for Caribbean corals would be bleak¹⁰.

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