Reefs at Risk Revisited: Atlantic

The Atlantic region contains approximately 10% of the world's coral reefs, with over 75% currently affected by local threats and more than 30% at high or very high risk. While 631 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) cover about 30% of these reefs, only 6% of the assessed area is classified as fully effective. Projections indicate that climate-related threats could push the proportion of reefs at risk to 100% by 2050.

• The Atlantic region contains about 26,000 sq km of coral reefs, representing 10 percent of the global total. These reefs are primarily located in the western Atlantic, specifically the Caribbean Sea and the Bahamas Banks, with Bermuda serving as the most northerly coral reefs in the world.
• Local threats affect more than 75 percent of reefs in the region, with over 30 percent categorized as high or very high risk. Overfishing is identified as the most pervasive threat, impacting nearly 70 percent of reefs.
• Climate-related threats are expected to increase the proportion of reefs at risk to 90 percent by 2030 and up to 100 percent by 2050, with approximately 85 percent reaching high, very high, or critical risk levels.
• There are 631 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) covering roughly 30 percent of the region's reefs. However, an assessment of about half of these MPAs found that 40 percent of the reef area was ineffective, and only 6 percent (460 sq km) was fully effective.
• Approximately 43 million people live on the coast within 30 km of a reef in the Atlantic region. Reefs provide critical services including food, coastline protection against tropical storms, and support for tourism in areas such as Belize, the Bahamas, and the Cayman Islands.

APA

World Resources Institute (2011). Reefs at Risk Revisited: Atlantic. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/factsheet_reefs_atlantic.pdf

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Reefs at Risk Revisited: Atlantic. 2011. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/factsheet_reefs_atlantic.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Reefs at Risk Revisited: Atlantic |date=February 2011 |url=https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/factsheet_reefs_atlantic.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2011reefs, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Reefs at Risk Revisited: Atlantic}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2011}, month = feb, url = {https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/factsheet_reefs_atlantic.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }