Coral Reefs and Climate Change
Introduction

Coral reefs are some of the most diverse, productive, and beautiful ecosystems on earth. They are also some of the most fragile, and may be most susceptible to the threats of global climate change.

Currently, there are about 1.28 million square kilometers of coral reef worldwide (Royal Society 2005) that are home to over 60,000 described plant and animal species, and about a third of all species that live in the ocean (Moberg & Folke 1999). Besides supporting an incredible amount of biodiversity, reefs provide many important ecological services that have impacts throughout the ocean and the world. Reefs protect mangroves and seagrass beds from wave energy, and they supply nutrients and organic material to the entire ocean food web.

Reefs are also very important to people. Fish caught from reefs constitute about 10% of all the fish consumed by humans worldwide (Moberg & Folke 1999). In some areas, such as the South Pacific, this proportion is much higher. Reefs can also generate huge amounts of money through tourism, and they may even hold the cure to many human diseases.

Because reefs are so valuable, it is very important to understand how they will respond to global climate change in order to effectively plan for sustainable development and resource management. This website gives an overview of the threats that climate change poses to coral reefs, and the impacts that predicted changes in reef ecosystems may have on other ecosystems and on people.

 

Photo credits: Andy Lewis