, a journal of the Society for Conservation Biology, researchers at Australia’s University of Queensland write “Although many factors are implicated, climate change has emerged as a dominant and rapidly growing threat [to coral reefs],” adding that “Developing a long-term strategic plan for the conservation of coral reefs is urgently needed yet is complicated by significant uncertainty associated with climate change impacts on coral reef ecosystems.
The researchers also say that the locations targeted for conservation constitute “important opportunities for novel conservation investments to secure less vulnerable yet well-connected coral reefs that may, in turn, help to repopulate degraded areas in the event that the climate has stabilized.
GCRMN also notes that “There was 20% more algae on the world’s coral reefs in 2019 than in 2010. Increases in the amount of algae, a globally recognised indicator of stress on coral reefs, were associated with declines in the amount of hard coral.”