Study suggests three-quarters of Indo-Pacific coral reefs could drown as sea levels rise
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) scientists have found that most coral reefs across the Indo-Pacific may struggle to grow fast enough to keep pace with accelerating sea-level rise. Their study found that 76% of the reef sites surveyed do not have the capacity to keep pace with projected sea-level rise under a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario, threatening coastal…
A new study published in Nature Communications by researchers from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) suggests that three-quarters of Indo-Pacific coral reefs may be unable to keep pace with accelerating sea-level rise. The study found that 76% of surveyed reef sites do not have the capacity to maintain their upward growth under a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario.
When relative sea level rises by more than 5.3 millimeters a year, there is a greater than 90% chance that reefs will be unable to maintain their upward growth, a threshold likely to be surpassed within 35 years if global greenhouse gas emissions are not substantially reduced. Coral reefs have historically been able to survive rising seas by building themselves upward and outward over time, but the current rate of sea-level rise could exceed the limits of most reefs, leading to "reef drowning" and potentially increasing risks to coastal communities due to greater wave energy reaching the coastline.
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