Reefsat Risk Human Pressure on the World’s Coral Reefs

The document reports that over 60% of the world's coral reefs are currently threatened by local human activities, with projections suggesting this could rise to nearly 100% by 2050 if left unchecked. It identifies key local stressors as overfishing, destructive fishing, coastal development, and pollution, alongside global threats like coral bleaching and ocean acidification caused by greenhouse gas emissions. The text emphasizes that countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Tanzania, and Haiti are very highly vulnerable to reef loss due to high dependence on reef services and low adaptive capacity.

• More than 60 percent of global coral reefs are currently threatened by local human activities, including overfishing, destructive fishing, coastal development, and pollution from both land and sea.
• If local and global threats are not addressed, the proportion of threatened reefs is projected to exceed 90 percent by 2030 and reach nearly 100 percent by 2050.
• Global greenhouse gas emissions compound local pressures by causing ocean acidification, which weakens coral skeletons and slows growth, and coral bleaching, where warming waters cause corals to expel symbiotic algae and become vulnerable to disease.
• Certain countries are identified as very highly vulnerable to reef degradation due to a combination of high dependence on reef services, high threat levels, and low adaptive capacity; these include the Philippines, Indonesia, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Tanzania, and Haiti.
• In contrast, countries like Australia and Japan exhibit lower vulnerability because they have relatively high adaptive capacity, relatively low human pressures, and low to medium dependence on reefs.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Reefsat Risk Human Pressure on the World’s Coral Reefs. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/wri12_polypsinperil_poster_side2_lr.pdf

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Reefsat Risk Human Pressure on the World’s Coral Reefs. n.d. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/wri12_polypsinperil_poster_side2_lr.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Reefsat Risk Human Pressure on the World’s Coral Reefs |url=https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/wri12_polypsinperil_poster_side2_lr.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendreefsat, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Reefsat Risk Human Pressure on the World’s Coral Reefs}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/wri12_polypsinperil_poster_side2_lr.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }