Fourth mass coral bleaching prompts UN emergency session at Colombia biodiversity summit
By STEVEN GRATTAN
Updated 8:48 PM EDT, October 30, 2024

CALI, Colombia (AP) — The United Nations, scientists and governments made an urgent call Wednesday for increased funding to protect coral reefs under threat of extinction.

Research this year shows that 77% of the world’s reefs are affected by bleaching, mainly due to warming ocean waters amid human-caused climate change. It’s the largest and fourth mass global bleaching on record and is impacting both hemispheres, United Nations Capital Development Fund said.

The findings prompted a U.N. special emergency session — typically called to address escalating conflicts or natural disasters — on corals to be convened on sidelines of the U.N. biodiversity summit, known as COP16, nearing its end after two weeks in Cali, Colombia.

Coral reefs are vital ecosystems that support over 25% of marine life and nearly a billion people, many relying on reefs for food security, coastal protection and livelihoods, the U.N. development fund said.

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