Status of coral reefs of the Pacific and outlook: 2011

Abstract

The coral reefs of the Pacific are in better condition than those in other reef regions in the world, and remain the less stressed compared to reefs elsewhere. This is encouraging considering that recent global reports paint a gloomy picture of the status (and likely future prospects) of large areas of the world’s coral reefs. However, the longer term outlook for Pacific reefs is 2 not encouraging with increasing human-induced threats and global climate change predicted to result in considerable damage in coming decades. This constitutes our conclusion, while many of the reefs in the Pacific appear healthy and resilient now, the outlook is poor.