Hurricanes Irma and Maria take toll on coral reefs

Published December 27, 2017 This content is archived.

BBC Newsday covered a recent research trip that Howard Lasker, professor of geology, took to inspect the damage that Caribbean coral reefs sustained following Hurricanes Irma and Maria. In the Independent, Lasker said: “Hurricanes generate huge waves. The effect is like sandblasting — the waves carry sand and debris, such as bits of broken coral, onto the reefs, striking them over and over again.”