Story perspectives

Report Finds Coral Cover Down 9.5% Since 1980-2009

9/1/2026

Summary

Story summary

The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network presented a 2025 report in Palau showing reefs under severe pressure.
The assessment analyzed over 21 million observations from 36,886 sites in 124 countries and territories.
Global hard-coral cover fell about 9.5 % since the 1980-2009 average.
Four major bleaching events since 1998 caused hard-coral losses of 6.5 %, 9.9 %, 6.6 % and 8.9 %.
On August 22, 2026, global average sea surface temperature reached a record 21.1 °C.

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Story summary

The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network presented a 2025 report in Palau showing reefs under severe pressure.
The assessment analyzed over 21 million observations from 36,886 sites in 124 countries and territories.
Global hard-coral cover fell about 9.5 % since the 1980-2009 average.
Four major bleaching events since 1998 caused hard-coral losses of 6.5 %, 9.9 %, 6.6 % and 8.9 %.
On August 22, 2026, global average sea surface temperature reached a record 21.1 °C.