A joint research paper published in the Nature Climate Change journal has found that the world’s corals and coral reefs face severe degredation if global-mean temperate rise two degrees or more above pre-industrial levels.

 

The research, conducted by a team from Australia, Germany and Canada, looked at over 2,000 reef locations worldwide and projected how often these locations might face severe bleaching events due to increasing sea surface temperatures in the future as a result of climate change.

 

The study concluded that only strong action to mitigate greenhouse-gas emissions and an assumed ability to rapidly evolve will save some coral reefs.

 

"The findings revealed there was only a small window of opportunity to save at least some parts of the world's coral reef ecosystems from long-term degradation,” Dr Malte Meinshausen co author from the University of Melbourne and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said.

 

“If we are not reducing greenhouse gas emissions rather swiftly, this already small window of opportunity will be effectively closing within a decade.”

 

“Our findings show that under current assumptions regarding thermal sensitivity, coral reefs will no longer be prominent coastal ecosystems if global mean temperatures reach 2°C above the pre-industrial temperatures,” said lead author Dr Katja Frieler from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.