The International Union for Conservation of Nature has released the first global assessment of its kind, warning that 96% of shallow-water coral reef ecosystems across more than 80 countries are critically endangered. The world authority on threatened wildlife stated that almost every shallow-water reef on the planet, including Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, faces a high risk of ecosystem collapse before 2075.
According to the UN nature advisers, climate change is directly responsible for the destruction of these ecosystems. The assessment highlights that warming oceans and heat waves are driving the crisis. While about 24% of the planet's reefs are already critically endangered, this figure rises to 96% when the expected impacts of global heating are factored in.
Scientists say these findings should serve as a wake-up call. If climate change continues apace, the majority of these reef systems may collapse and disappear within the next 50 years.