Mass Coral Reef Die-Off Sounds Ecological Alarm

The 2025 Global Tipping Points Report, led by the University of Exeter in the UK, confirms that warm-water coral reefs have become the first Earth system to cross a climate tipping point. Global average temperatures have risen by 1.4°C above pre-industrial levels, exceeding the 1.2°C thermal tolerance threshold for coral reefs. This has triggered the fourth mass bleaching event between 2023 and 2025, affecting 84.4% of coral reefs and causing a 70% loss of live coral cover in parts of the Caribbean Sea. The report warns that if warming cannot be kept below 1.5°C, 16 critical systems—including the Amazon rainforest and Greenland ice sheet—face the risk of cascading collapse.