The report shows a 14% reduction in global corals over a 10-year period, which is the region with the worst losses

A report released by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network on the 5th shows that due to the impact of climate change and other factors, the number of coral reef corals in the world decreased by 14% between 2009 and 2018. Reuters said that amounted to the demise of about 11,700 square kilometers of coral reefs.

This is the sixth report on the state of coral reefs worldwide published by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network and the first since 2008. The report summarizes observations from nearly 2 million observation sites on 12,000 coral reefs in 73 countries and regions around the world between 1978 and 2019, and for the first time conducts quantitative analysis to reach the above conclusions. The survey was the largest in its category.

The report shows that between 2009 and 2018, coral losses varied widely in different parts of the world, with the smallest decline of 5% in East Asia and as high as 95% in the tropical regions of the eastern Pacific.

Corals face an existential crisis as ocean surface temperatures rise, the report said. Paul Haddystre, one of the report's authors and director of the Australian Institute of Oceanography, said: "Climate change is the greatest threat to coral reefs around the world... There is a clear worrying decline in corals, and we can expect this trend to continue as the climate continues to warm. ”

Coral reefs are important marine ecosystems, and while they cover only 0.2 percent of the world's ocean floor, at least 25 percent of marine species depend on coral reefs for their livelihoods, the report said. Coral reefs provide $2.7 trillion worth of goods and services each year, including $36 billion in reef tourism. However, coral reefs are among the most vulnerable ecosystems on Earth to cope with human interference, with global warming being the most severely affected by warming, leading to large amounts of coral bleaching. The report notes that large-scale coral bleaching is the biggest disruptive factor for coral reefs worldwide, with "the 1998 coral bleaching event alone reducing global coral populations by 8 percent".

According to the report, marine pollution, overfishing, and unsustainable coastal development also threaten coral reefs.

However, the report notes that coral populations are expected to return to past levels if the existential threats to coral reefs are mitigated, given the increase in coral populations in some regions in 2019.

According to Agence France-Presse, the current global average temperature has increased by 1.1 degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial development, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change previously predicted that if this figure reached 1.5 degrees Celsius, 70 to 90 percent of corals would die. (Wang Xinfang) (Xinhua News Agency special article)

Source: Xinhua Net