{
  "id": 14761458,
  "title": "El Niño a 'terrifying' threat to coral reefs: UN biodiversity expert",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/15/el-nino-a-terrifying-threat-to-coral-reefs-un-biodiversity-expert",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-15T18:22:51.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Phys.org",
    "slug": "phys-org",
    "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-10-el-nio-threat-coral-reefs.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A powerful El Niño event fueling extreme ocean temperatures is putting the world's delicate coral reefs at grave risk, warns a leading United Nations biodiversity expert. Dr. David Obura, chair of the U.N.'s expert nature panel, says this super El Niño could push vulnerable coral species closer to extinction. Coral reefs are highly sensitive to heat and are already struggling due to climate change, which is warming the oceans and intensifying coral bleaching events. This year's El Niño, forecasted to be the strongest on record, adds a terrifying level of additional threat to already stressed reefs. Dr. Obura, a Kenyan reef specialist and head of IPBES, the U.N.'s biodiversity science panel, recalls the devastating impacts of a super El Niño episode in 1997-98 and says this upcoming event is even worse. He led a major reassessment of coral health published in Nature reporting that by 2020, nearly half of all coral species were at heightened risk of extinction, with climate change being the primary driver. The review covered hundreds of species, including iconic corals like staghorn and table corals whose mineral skeletons form the complex structures of reefs. The study, completed in 2020, would likely show an even bleaker outlook today. Since then, ocean temperatures have reached record highs and the most severe coral bleaching event on record from 2023-2025 caused widespread mortality across reefs. Dr. Obura warns that after this coming El Niño, it's possible that conditions could push over 50% of coral species to the brink of extinction. He emphasizes that when coral reefs hit their survival threshold, the collapse could be sudden and unpredictable, potentially occurring within years rather than decades, and possibly this year with the super El Niño intensifying.",
  "summary": "A super El Niño fueling record ocean temperatures poses a \"terrifying\" threat to the world's fragile coral reefs, the chair of the U.N.'s expert nature panel told AFP.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}