Almost all coral reef ecosystems face risk of collapse in 50 years, study warns
The IUCN says warming oceans and heat waves put 96% of shallow-water reef systems at risk of collapse by 2075.
- On Thursday, the International Union for Conservation of Nature warned that 96% of the world's shallow-water coral reefs face an "extremely high risk" of collapse by 2075 due to climate change.
- Heat stress from climate change is the "single most consistent threat driving coral reef decline worldwide," the IUCN said. The United Nations warned Wednesday that global temperatures are on track to rise 2.6°C this century.
- The IUCN's analysis examined 127 tropical and subtropical systems covering 188,362 sq km. Iconic sites including the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Triangle are classified as "critically endangered," the highest risk category.
- Despite the dire findings, IUCN Director General Grethel Aguilar said reefs "are not yet lost." She called for "ambitious emissions reductions, stronger protection and restoration efforts" to give reefs a chance to recover.
- Mishal Gudka, scientific lead of the assessment, stated the risk is escalating but "must be a wake-up call rather than a cause for despair." Pockets of resilient coral reefs can still remain with decisive action, he added.
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Almost all shallow-water coral reefs could collapse by 2075. Especially the rising sea temperatures are increasing, warns the World Nature Protection Union.
They protect coasts, store carbon and provide a habitat for countless species. But global warming is increasing the number of coral reefs. In a few decades, according to the World Nature Conservation Union, they will have disappeared almost completely.
As much as 96 percent of the world's coral reefs were classified as critically endangered, the highest level of threat.
Almost all coral reefs risk collapse in 50 years, study warns
The world’s coral reef ecosystems almost all face a high risk of collapse in the next 50 years mostly due to warming oceans and heat waves, according to a global assessment released Thursday. The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s assessment, announced on the sidelines of a U.N. biodiversity conference in Albania, found that 96 percent of shallow-water reef systems are already critically endangered and could disappear by 2075. Most…
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 96% of coral reefs could disappear by 2075 due to ocean warming.
Writing Environment, 22 Oct (EFE).- 96% of the coral reef ecosystems in warm and shallow waters assessed in the world face an "extremely high" risk of collapse by 2075 due mainly to the warming of the oceans caused by climate change.An analysis included on the Red List this Thursday [...] The entry 96% of coral reefs face a critical risk of collapse in 50 years was first published in HolaNews.
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