The projected threat spans coral reefs in more than 80 countries. The Guardian reports that 96% of reefs face a high risk when the expected effects of global heating are included. It also reports that about 24% were already classified as critically endangered before those projected impacts were added.
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is among the shallow-water reef systems identified as facing a high risk of ecosystem collapse before 2075, according to The Guardian.
The Japan Times described the assessment as the IUCN’s first global assessment of coral reefs. RFI likewise reported the warning as coming from the conservation body, while The Guardian framed the assessment as the work of United Nations nature advisers.
The 96% figure is presented somewhat differently across the reporting. The Guardian describes it as the share facing high risk after projected global-heating impacts are included, while The Japan Times describes 96% of coral reef systems as critically endangered. The available accounts do not establish whether those labels represent exactly the same assessment category.
The reporting agrees on the central projection: climate change and global heating could put nearly all shallow-water coral reefs at extremely high risk of collapse within about five decades. It does not provide the assessment’s full methodology, publication title or named authors, and no direct statement from an official United Nations body is included in the reporting reviewed here.