An assessment by United Nations nature advisers found that almost all shallow-water coral reefs across more than 80 countries face significant collapse risk before 2075 as a result of climate change. Currently, 24% of the planet’s reefs are critically endangered, but when accounting for projected global heating impacts, this figure rises to 96% of reef ecosystems.
Coral reefs support a quarter of all known marine species and provide food, coastal protection, and tourism revenue for hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The ecosystems have already experienced decline over the past 50 years due to overfishing, pollution, coastal development, and global heating, measured through loss of live coral cover and changes in fish populations. The assessment examined 127 coral reef regions and was coordinated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which advises the United Nations. The analysis assumed greenhouse gas emissions would follow a middle-of-the-road pathway, resulting in approximately 2.7 degrees Celsius of global heating by century’s end compared with pre-industrial temperatures.
A coral reef ecosystem is considered collapsed when it can no longer sustain itself due to near or complete loss of living reef-building corals. The assessment did not fully account for impacts from a major global mass bleaching event that occurred from early 2023 to mid-2025, noted as the most widespread such event on record. Marine heatwaves cause corals to separate from symbiotic algae, weakening them and increasing disease susceptibility.
Despite the dire findings, scientists emphasized the situation is not hopeless. They stated that rapid reductions in fossil fuel use combined with strong local conservation efforts could allow reefs to survive. Officials from the IUCN called for ambitious emissions reductions, stronger protection and restoration efforts, and sustained investment in resilient coastal ecosystems to give coral reefs a chance at recovery.
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Article summary produced by Claude AI