Fifth of Coral Reefs Dead: Study

A fifth of the world’s coral reefs have died or been destroyed, says a study released to the UN yesterday. In it, marine scientists warned that the future of marine life and the $30 billion economic value of reefs are increasingly threatened by climate change. The report also zeroed in on other hazards, like pollution, over-fishing and natural disasters, the Guardian reports.

Millions of coastal dwellers depend on corals for their livelihood, but the remaining 45% of healthy reefs are also at risk, says a member of a reef-monitoring network. With CO2 emissions expected to double within 50 years unless something is done to reduce them, “we could effectively lose coral reefs as we know them, with major coral extinctions,” Clive Wilkinson adds. (More coral reef stories.)