Image by Giulia Salvaterra from Unsplash
“Protecting Coral Reefs: A Crucial Challenge for the Future” is an article written by Carle, Chevalier, Deprez, and Pierre explains the danger to coral reefs, and conservation efforts, to all audiences. These authors do three things that I will remember for my own future work. It seeks empathy from the reader, provokes urgency, and provides clear call-to-action.
Seeking empathy from your audience is not always easy, as you do not always know who your audience is. However, the authors of “Protecting Coral Reefs” do a wonderful job in searching for the audience’s empathy. The way they do this is by first explaining what coral reefs are and following up with their importance in their ecosystem. Carle and his co-authors explain to readers that coral reefs are not only incredibly important to marine life, but that they also improve our lives. They do so by protecting our coasts from waves, which in turn protects shorelines from erosion and land against extreme weather, Carle and his co-authors described. Beyond that, it is explained that many people’s livelihoods depend on coral reefs for fishing and tourism, and that they are even part of cultural traditions.
Urgency is raised when details about the dangers posed to coral reefs are provided. An explanation is provided about climate change being the cause of coral bleaching—a process that causes coral to turn white and eventually die. The main factor from climate change is marine heatwaves, causing a rising temperature across the sea that speeds up the bleaching of coral. Carle and his co-authors express that beyond climate change, however, coral is in danger from various human activities as well, such as destructive fishing practices, coastal artificialization, and marine pollution. These dangers provide a sense of urgency to the problem at hand.
After explaining what is at stake, Carle and his co-authors guide readers into a call-to-action by explaining what they can do to help protect coral reefs. The authors begin by explaining the processes needed to help coral reefs in the first place, such as mitigating climate change and reducing destruction from humans, then explaining that doing so means the use of a strong collective mobilization that would encompass political and local actions. Current achievements, missions, and actions being taken are brought up to provide confidence to the reader that they would be investing in the right thing. Carle and his co-authors then provide a couple of links and different projects that readers can do or invest in to help coral reef preservation efforts.
In conclusion, Carle, Chevalier, Deprez, and Pierre wrote an article explaining coral reefs dangers and preservation efforts. Three things they did I would like to remember for my own work are their usage of reader empathy, a sense of urgency, and a clear call-to-action. The article was a wonderful example of how to write for all audiences—clear, easy to understand explanations, quick to the point, and generally precise.
Carle, Gauthier, Maud Chevalier, Anaïs Deprez, and Morgane Pierre. “Protecting Coral Reefs: A Crucial Challenge for the Future.” Ocean & Climate Platform – A healthy ocean, a protected climate, December 5, 2024. https://ocean-climate.org/en/protecting-coral-reefs-a-crucial-challenge-for-the-future/.
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