7 OCTOBER 2021

STATUS OF CORAL REEFS OF THE WORLD

The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), the international Coral Reef Initiative that aims to provide best available scientific information on the status of coral reef ecosystems released the sixth edition of their Report recently.

The data collected from more than 300 scientists from 73 countries including two million individual observations reveal that there are sharp declines in coral cover, corresponding with rapid increases in sea surface temperatures.

“Between 2009 and 2018, the continuous rise in sea temperature cost the world 14 percent of its coral reefs – that’s more than the size of Australia’s reef combined,” the UN funded Report says.

As per the report, there has been a steady decrease in hard coral cover since 2010 with the worst impacts.

The reefs harbor the highest biodiversity of any of the world’s ecosystems.

The coral reefs are under threat from climate change, ocean acidification, land based pollution, marine pollution and overfishing.

“If we halt and reverse ocean warming through global cooperation, we give reefs a chance to come back from the brink,” the Report warns all nations to save the world’s coral reefs.