Umbrellas for corals: $100 of shade against $1,000 of regret

Florida's corals just got their own beach umbrellas. Marine scientist Karen Neely of Nova Southeastern University tested a beautifully simple idea in the Florida Keys: float shade cloths — the same fabric gardeners use — about a foot above individual corals during the brutal summer heat. The shades cut harsh light by 60%, and even though that summer brought the second-highest heat stress on record, the shaded corals kept their color — some even recovered it. The umbrellas were cheap, easy to install and remove, and harmed nothing else on the reef. The math is stark: shading a coral costs about $100; restoring a dead one costs more than $1,000. 'We can't restore our way out of everything,' Neely says. 'We have to try to keep what's already out there alive.'