WASHINGTON POST • October 5, 2021
Climate change is wiping out coral reefs and will kill more if oceans keep getting warmer, researchers warned on Tuesday in a new study that spanned much of the globe. The world already lost 14 percent of its coral between 2009 and 2018 – or what amounts to more than all the coral now living in Australia’s reefs – scientists with the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network found. They blamed rising sea surface temperatures: While local factors like too much fishing, pollution and construction on the coast play a role, coral bleaching has done the most harm.