Overall coral reef cover down by 9.5% in 2020-2024: Study
Global hard coral cover is measured in percentages to show what portion of the ocean floor’s hard substrate is actively covered by living hard coral tissue
A new global study reveals that overall coral reef cover has declined by 9.5% between 2020 and 2024, as human-induced climate change drives increasingly frequent marine heatwaves and global bleaching events. According to the 'Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2025' report, released by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), every major global bleaching event since 1998 has contributed to a sharp decline in global hard coral cover, creating a "staircase of decline" as recovery windows shrink.
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