The largest global assessment of coral reefs reveals a distressing decline of nearly 10% between 2020-24. With warming oceans leaving reefs less time to recover, the future looks bleak. Can we afford to lose these vital ecosystems that support marine life and millions of people worldwide?

A report published by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network warns global hard coral cover has declined by approximately 9.5%, driven by climate-induced heat stress.

The proportion of reef surface covered by living coral has fallen by 9.5 percent, compared with just the 1980–2009 average.