CORAL REEF REPORT WARNS OF IRREVERSIBLE DECLINE: HOW BAD IS IT?

Wed 02 September 2026:

Scientists warn corals are losing the recovery time they need as rising ocean temperatures drive increasingly frequent bleaching

Coral reefs are being hit by bleaching events so often that they are no longer getting enough time to recover, putting ecosystems around the world at risk of an irreversible decline, scientists have warned.

The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), in a report released Monday, said global coral cover has fallen significantly below normal levels as repeated heat stress continues to damage reefs.

“If we give them enough time, they ‌have the capacity to recover,” lead author Manuel Gonzalez Rivero said. “But we haven’t seen that amount of time being allowed. In fact, the frequency of those bleaching events has pretty much doubled.”

Coral bleaching happens when corals expel the colourful algae that live within their tissues. The loss of these algae leaves corals vulnerable to starvation and disease. Although bleached corals are not necessarily dead, they require sufficiently cool conditions and time to recover.

Gonzalez Rivero, a scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, said coral reefs had remained relatively stable for decades before a sharp deterioration began.

“We had 40 years of coral cover around the world that had remained relatively unchanged until 2010,” said Gonzalez Rivero, a scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science. “Since 2010, there has ⁠been a very steep change.”

The latest global bleaching event, recorded in 2023, was the most extensive ever documented, affecting about 77 percent of the world’s coral reef areas.

With global temperatures remaining unusually high, Rivero warned that another major bleaching event is “very likely” this year.

Coral reefs are considered important indicators of the health of the world’s oceans. Although they occupy less than 1 percent of the ocean floor, they support more than 25 percent of marine life.

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Pacific Leaders Confront Climate and Ocean Challenges

The GCRMN warning comes as organisers of the annual Pacific Islands Forum confirmed that at least five leaders from the 18-member grouping will not attend its summit.

The forum has long served as a symbol of unity among Pacific island nations and provides a platform for addressing major regional challenges, including climate change and the deteriorating health of the world’s oceans.

The growing frequency of coral bleaching has added urgency to those discussions, with scientists warning that continued warming could leave reefs with too little time to recover between successive events.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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