Coral Reefs at Risk
The Art
The Science
What’s Alarming
According to the report - Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2020 - Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network/International Coral Reef Initiative, Executive Summary: Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network/International:
“Coral reefs occur in more than 100 countries and territories and whilst they cover only 0.2% of the seafloor, they support at least 25% of marine species and underpin the safety, coastal protection, wellbeing, food and economic security of hundreds of millions of people. The value of goods and services provided by coral reefs is estimated at US$2.7 trillion per year, including US$36 billion in coral reef tourism. However, coral reefs are among the most vulnerable ecosystems on the planet to anthropogenic pressures, including global threats from climate change and ocean acidification, and local impacts from land-based pollution such as input of nutrients and sediments from agriculture, marine pollution, and overfishing and destructive fishing practices. Maintaining the integrity and resilience of coral reef ecosystems is essential for the wellbeing of tropical coastal communities worldwide, and a critical part of the solution for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. …
Among the key findings of the report are:
Large scale coral bleaching events are the greatest disturbance to the world’s coral reefs. The 1998 event alone killed 8% of the world’s coral.
Subsequent disturbance events, occurring between 2009 and 2018, killed 14% of the world’s coral.
There was 20% more algae on the world’s coral reefs in 2019 than in 2010. Increases in the amount of algae, a globally recognised indicator of stress on coral reefs, were associated with declines in the amount of hard coral.
Declines in global coral cover were associated with periods of either rapid increase in sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly or sustained high SST anomaly.
Since 2010, almost all regions exhibited a decline in average coral cover. Projections of increased SSTs in the future suggest coral reefs will experience further declines in the coming decades.
Increases in global average coral cover between 2002 and 2009, and in 2019, suggest that many of the world’s coral reefs remain resilient and can recover if conditions permit. ..”
In 2022, for the first time, a mass bleaching occurred during a year of La Nina which is generally thought to protect against bleaching. In 2021 ocean heat was recorded for the sixth year in a row.
