--- title: Coral Reefs: Climate Change Isn't the Only Problem description: The practice of dredging in Miami's port to clear waterways for ships has damaged the region's coral reefs canonical: https://time.com/4313908/coral-reef-global-warming-climate-change-miami/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-02T11:41:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:10:58.909Z article:section: Science og:title: Warm Temperatures Aren’t the Only Thing Killing the World’s Coral Reefs og:description: Reefs in Miami have been hit hard by dredging og:url: https://time.com/4313908/coral-reef-global-warming-climate-change-miami/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39d369f47cf78fad/6988915d524fc0b33cdf7ca4/miami-coral-reefs-dredging.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: miami coral reefs dredging og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Warm Temperatures Aren’t the Only Thing Killing the World’s Coral Reefs twitter:description: Reefs in Miami have been hit hard by dredging twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39d369f47cf78fad/6988915d524fc0b33cdf7ca4/miami-coral-reefs-dredging.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Warm Temperatures Aren’t the Only Thing Killing the World’s Coral Reefs  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent May 2, 2016 11:41 AM CUT  The Terrapin Island, a dredging ship, is seen as the start-up of PortMiami's dredging project begins on December 6, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The Terrapin Island, a dredging ship, is seen as the start-up of PortMiami's dredging project begins on December 6, 2013 in Miami, Florida.Joe Raedle—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent May 2, 2016 11:41 AM CUT The practice of dredging in Miami’s port to clear waterways for ships [has damaged the region’s coral reefs](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/us/dredging-of-miami-port-badly-damaged-coral-reef-study-finds.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&%5Fr=1 "undefined"). The finding, [reported](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/us/dredging-of-miami-port-badly-damaged-coral-reef-study-finds.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&%5Fr=1 "undefined") in the New York _Times,_ comes amid continued concern that warm temperatures from the past several months linked to the El Niño climate pattern, as well as global warming, [could wipe out](http://time.com/4293572/the-great-barrier-reef-is-under-attack-from-el-nino-and-climate-change/ "undefined") as much as 15% of the [world’s coral reefs](http://time.com/4292505/great-barrier-reef-climate-change/?iid=sr-link3 "undefined"). The report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) showed that 81% of the reef had been damaged in the vicinity of [dredging](http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/dredging.html "undefined") in the port, according to the _Times_ report. Dredging is a process of removing unwanted sediment from the bottom of a waterway. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently assessing how to address the issue in Miami. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4313908/coral-reef-global-warming-climate-change-miami/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4313908/coral-reef-global-warming-climate-change-miami/"},"headline":"Warm Temperatures Aren’t the Only Thing Killing the World’s Coral Reefs","datePublished":"2016-05-02T11:41:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:10:58.909Z","description":"Reefs in Miami have been hit hard by dredging","url":"https://time.com/4313908/coral-reef-global-warming-climate-change-miami/","keywords":["Environment"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39d369f47cf78fad/6988915d524fc0b33cdf7ca4/miami-coral-reefs-dredging.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39d369f47cf78fad/6988915d524fc0b33cdf7ca4/miami-coral-reefs-dredging.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"miami coral reefs dredging","caption":"miami coral reefs dredging","creditText":"Joe Raedle—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4313908/coral-reef-global-warming-climate-change-miami/","name":"Warm Temperatures Aren’t the Only Thing Killing the World’s Coral Reefs"}}]}] ```