# The International Coral Reef Society says the best way to protect coral reefs is to address the root cause of climate change. According to the International Coral Reef Initiative, harmful bleaching of the world’s coral has grown to include 84-percent of the ocean’s reefs. Approximately 25-percent of all marine species can be found in, on and around coral reefs. International Coral Reef Society’s Mark Eakin says that to protect coral reefs, it is essential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that warm the planet, such as carbon dioxide and methane.
The world’s coral reefs hit by the worst bleaching event on record