A report carried out by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration points to the alarming fact that half of all US coral reefs are in poor health and that responsibility belongs to human beings.

Today will take place the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium, which will be hosted at The Broward County Convention Center. Scientist, policy experts and conservationists from 150 countries will gather in order to discuss about coral reef conservation and protection.

Issued today at the International Coral Reef Symposium in Fort Lauderdale, the report refers to the 15 federally managed shallow-water coral preserves in the Pacific and Caribbean. It is based on survey answers from coral reef administrators and on reports for more that 250 scientists, says Jenny Waddell, NOAA marine biologist.

Experts say reefs located nearby cities were discovered in poorer condition, destroyed by garbage, overfishing and pollution. "Human impacts are making the big difference," affirmed NOAA's Timothy Keeney, co-chair of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force. "Humans are the most invasive species of all."

Among the report’s findings, it has been discovered that seafood species are in deplorable state and that almost 90% of all reef in some Caribbean areas were wretched in 2005 by bleaching, losing their color, and by hurricanes.

Specialists approximate that 20 percent to 50 percent of the world's reef has been damaged in the past 40 years. Coral reefs feel even the slight variations in water temperature and global warming has a destructive impact on them.