Almost all shallow-water coral reefs now face extinction risk, study warns

The world authority on threatened wildlife classified 96 percent of all coral reef systems as "critically endangered".By AFP and The Associated PressPublished On 22 Oct 202622 Oct 2026Almost all of the world’s shallow-water coral reefs face an extremely high risk of collapse in the next 50 years, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has warned in a new global assessment.In a report released on Thursday, the world authority on threatened wildlife classified 96 percent of the planet’s coral reef systems as “critically endangered”, its highest risk category, with total extinction possible by 2075.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Parts of Great Barrier Reef record highest coral deaths due to heat, stormslist 2 of 4What would happen if coral reefs disappeared?list 3 of 4Can “super coral” and cooling the sea, save reefs from climate change?list 4 of 4Restoring nature is key to a more resilient futureend of list“The future threat of climate change is looming and severe, and that poses a very high risk to the survival of these ecosystems,” said Mishal Gudka, scientific lead of the IUCN Red List of Coral Reef Ecosystems assessment.Corals are heat-sensitive ...