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Hurricanes did not show a significant effect on fish, corals or macroalgae. Fish can benefit from well-managed marine protected areas (MPAs) because it is possible to prevent fishing inside the boundaries. But for other problems, these zones appear to be inadequate. "Climate doesn't respect the boundary of an MPA," Mora said. "Pollution doesn't know where an MPA is." The work helps identify the relative importance of various factors on reef ecology, a subject of debate among reef scientists, said Peter Sale, a coral reef ecologist at the International Network on Water, Environment and Health of the United Nations University, in Hamilton, Ontario, who was not involved in the study. But "the main message of this paper is that reefs are deteriorating and it's because of us," he said. "We are the elephant in the room." "What we need is regional-scale coastal management," he added. "There is far too much complacency around the degree to which our current activities are sufficient." "MPAs are just not going to be enough to protect coral reefs," Mora agreed. The combined pressures from human activities in coastal areas and climate change may be more than the reefs can handle, both researchers noted. "It's like lighting the candle at both ends," Mora said. "That is exactly what is happening with coral reefs."
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