Thread by @ClimateBen

Mesoamerican Coral Reef:

1. world's second largest reef
2. stretches 1,000 km from northern tip of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula toward the Bay Islands in northern Honduras
3. critically endangered; high risk from mass bleaching
4. collapse at 1.5- 2°C global warming (2020s--2030s)

'The condition of the world’s second-largest coral system, the Mesoamerican Reef stretching from Mexico to Central America, has taken a turn for the worse and faces further threats from climate change, according to a report by a group of scientists.'

japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/02/1…

'The ecosystem is at high risk from mass bleaching in the coming decades, with compounding effects of ocean acidification, hurricanes, pollution and fishing. The overall status of the ecosystem is Critically Endangered'

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rs…

The world has lost roughly half its coral reefs in the last 30 years.

March 2017:

independent.co.uk/environment/en…

'At 2 degrees C warming, 99 percent of reefs could be lost.'

Many, many scientists say staying below 2°C no longer looks possible. It appears generally accepted that tropical corals won't survive 2°C in anything like their current form, if at all.

grist.org/article/climat…

70 to 90% of all coral reefs will die by 2039.

The remainder appear set to be gone by the 2040s to the 2090s.

forbes.com/sites/trevorna…