It is now a certainty: fossil fuels are the primary cause of coral reef bleaching. For years, it was argued that coral reef bleaching was caused by local pollution. But the data now confirm that the main cause behind the rise in average sea temperatures and the endangerment of the world's corals has been the pollution produced by the fossil fuel industry. Scientists have found no substantial differences between what is happening to coral reefs near populated areas and those in more isolated locations. Climate change is the leading cause of coral death worldwide.

Climate change is undermining the health of coral reefs

Just how severe and perhaps irreversible the phenomenon is can be seen in a project promoted by 350.org, an international environmental organisation that campaigns on climate issues and raises awareness of the risks of climate change.

Through the initiative Exxon Killed The Reef, promoted by 350.org, underwater photographs were gathered of the Palolo Deep Marine Reserve in Samoa, the Australian Great Barrier Reef, the Florida Keys in the United States, and the Andaman Islands reef. The visible damage from bleaching is unmistakable, and the cause is the rising temperature of ocean waters.

The truths hidden by oil companies

Damage that oil and coal companies knew they were causing, yet chose to conceal. As far back as the last century, companies such as Exxon knew that carbon dioxide emitted worldwide through the use of fossil fuels could warm the planet. But, despite warnings from scientists, they chose to ignore the research findings and instead invested their resources in deceiving communities and citizens, seeking to cast doubt on the reality of climate change and lobbying to block any national or international action promoting the use of electric cars or other initiatives aimed at moving away from fossil fuels.

A phenomenon that keeps getting worse

At a global level, bleaching began in mid-2014 in Florida and the western Pacific. In 2015 the phenomenon became global and gradually intensified, reaching its peak between 2015 and 2016 due to El Niño. In places such as the Great Barrier Reef in northern Australia, the phenomenon now affects 35 per cent of corals. In North America, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that the coral reefs of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, eastern Micronesia and Hainan Island will be the next areas to experience it. Further bleaching events are under way in Hawaii and various parts of the Caribbean.

The damage is not only environmental. Coral reefs are home to more species per unit area than any other marine environment: a biodiversity that could prove fundamental to the study and development of new medicines, and that is now seriously at risk. Rising temperatures also threaten the 500 million people living in the affected areas, who will see their living conditions and the economic value of their assets and activities deteriorate by more than 375 billion dollars every year.

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