Coral reefs support an extraordinary diversity

Position 1: Without urgent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, scientists warn that the majority of the world's coral reefs could be functionally extinct by 2050.

Position 2: These ecosystems provide habitat, breeding grounds, and feeding areas for roughly twenty-five percent of all known marine species.

Position 3: When corals expel their symbiotic algae in response to thermal stress, they lose both their colour and their primary source of nutrition.

Position 4: Coral reefs support an extraordinary diversity of marine life despite occupying less than one percent of the ocean floor.

Position 5: However, rising ocean temperatures caused by climate change are triggering widespread coral bleaching events that threaten this biodiversity.