{"id":942499,"date":"2026-10-22T20:48:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T20:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/942499\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T20:48:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T20:48:12","slug":"almost-every-shallow-water-coral-reef-on-the-planet-faces-ecosystem-collapse-by-2075-un-advisors-say-coral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/942499\/","title":{"rendered":"Almost every shallow-water coral reef on the planet faces ecosystem collapse by 2075, UN advisors say | Coral"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almost every shallow-water coral reef on the planet, including Australia\u2019s Great Barrier Reef<\/a>, faces a high risk of ecosystem collapse before 2075 because of global heating, according to an assessment by United Nations nature advisers.<\/p>\n

About 24% of the planet\u2019s reefs across more than 80 countries are already critically endangered, the assessment said, but when the expected impacts of global heating were added this rose to 96%.<\/p>\n

Coral reefs are known as the rainforests of the sea. A quarter of all known marine species are found in and around them and they support hundreds of millions of people with food, as well as protecting shorelines and supporting tourism.<\/p>\n

Overfishing, pollution, coastal development and global heating have already caused declines in the ecosystems over the past 50 years, measured by the loss of live coral as well as changes in fish populations, the assessment said.<\/p>\n

But the scientists said while the prognosis was dire, the findings should serve as a \u201cwake-up call\u201d because reefs could survive with rapid cuts to fossil fuel use and strong conservation action at local levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe risk is real and very concerning,\u201d said Dr Mishal Gudka, research director at Cordio (Coral Reef Degradation in the Indian Ocean) East Africa and the scientific lead for the assessment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe stand to lose one of the most valuable ecosystems we have \u2013 the impacts of which will affect millions of people around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The assessment analysed the current status and future threat levels of 127 coral reef regions and was coordinated by the International Union for Conservation<\/a> of Nature (IUCN), an international group that advises the United Nations.<\/p>\n

The assessment assumed greenhouse gas emissions \u2013 mainly from burning fossil fuels \u2013 would follow a \u201cmiddle-of-the-road\u201d pathway, causing about 2.7C of global heating by the end of the century when compared with temperatures before the Industrial Revolution.<\/p>\n

Current climate policies and targets adopted by countries around the world are likely to cause about 2.6C of global heating, one assessment finds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The share of coral eco-regions considered critically endangered would likely be even higher, the IUCN said, but four regions did not have enough data to assess them and the coral reefs of the western Gal\u00e1pagos had already collapsed.<\/p>\n

Extensive coral bleaching occurred at the Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, in February 2025. Photograph: Brooke Pyke<\/p>\n

The critically endangered classification meant an \u201cextremely high risk\u201d of ecosystem collapse before 2075.<\/p>\n

The group considers a coral reef ecosystem to have collapsed if the reef could not maintain itself because of a near or complete loss of living reef-building corals.<\/p>\n

The assessment did not fully account for the impacts of the fourth global mass bleaching event from early 2023 to mid-2025 \u2013 the most widespread global mass bleaching event on record, the US government\u2019s Coral Reef Watch has confirmed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That global event was bookended by the worst mass bleaching event on record for reefs in Western Australia<\/a> where a heatwave killed corals across 1,500lm (930 miles).<\/p>\n

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Marine heatwaves can cause corals to separate from the symbiotic algae that provides them with colour and nutrient. While not always deadly, bleaching can weaken corals and make them more susceptible to disease.<\/p>\n

Gudka said the results were a \u201cwake-up call\u201d and were \u201calarming, but certainly not hopeless\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThey should be seen as a call to action \u2013 an early warning sign before the worst outcomes eventuate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Grethel Aguilar, the director general of the IUCN, said: \u201cIt is not too late to give coral reefs a chance to recover, but it requires decisive action to tackle climate change and halt further ocean warming.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know what is needed: ambitious emissions reductions, stronger protection and restoration efforts, and sustained investment in resilient coastal ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four of Australia\u2019s 17 reef regions were considered critically endangered. Five were endangered and five more were classed as vulnerable.<\/p>\n

But all 17 regions, including the Great Barrier Reef, were critically endangered once the expected impacts of climate change were accounted for.<\/p>\n

Dr Ben Fitzpatrick of the University of Western Australia Oceans<\/a> Institute led the Australian assessment. He said even after accounting for the ability of some corals to adapt to warmer water, the rising heat \u201coverwhelmed everything\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cReefs are like Picasso paintings under water,\u201d he said. \u201cThey have all these wonderful inhabitants in their millions. You can spend a lifetime trying to understand how all these weird critters go about their daily lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo think we might lose that is devastating. There\u2019s one message. We have to stop burning fossil fuels.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Almost every shallow-water coral reef on the planet, including Australia\u2019s Great Barrier Reef, faces a high risk of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":942500,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-942499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=942499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/942500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=942499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=942499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=942499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}