Coral reefs need our help

Coral bleaching is happening in oceans all over the world. Marine biologist Katie Allen explains what it is, why it happens and what is being done to restore damaged reefs

Healthy coral reef prior to bleaching, Maldives, 2016. The outer tips of Acropora. are often white – it is a fast-growing coral and the tips often cannot acquire the algae that give coral its colour fast enough to keep up with the rate of skeletal/tissue growth

Often when people think of climate change their minds travel to the polar regions. Polar bears, standing on melting ice, have become the poster species in the fight to halt our changing climate. However, in reality, the impacts of our fossil fuel consumption are reaching far beyond those on the ice caps. The tropics too are feeling the adverse effects of our warming planet. Climate change is killing our coral reefs, and fast.

Less than 1% of the ocean floor is occupied by coral reefs, but they are home to 25% of all marine life on Earth. Known as the world’s underwater cities, they form nurseries for roughly a quarter of the ocean’s fish, and one third of all marine species depend on them for one or more stages of their life cycle.