Mass Coral Die-Offs Confirm First Breach of a Major Climate Tipping Point

Photo: September 10, 2014 – A colony of the soft coral known as the “bent sea rod” stands bleached on a reef off of Islamorada, Florida. […] Photo credit: Kelsey Roberts, USGS via Flickr. Public Domain. Article by Tessa Koumoundouros. ScienceAlert – October 13, 2025.

It’s official: we no longer live on a planet with temperatures that can sustain warm-water coral reefs. This is the first of many fragile Earth systems set to topple as human activities continue to stoke our planet’s fever, the 2025 Global Tipping Points Report warns. Mass reef dieback occurs at an estimated 1.2 °C warming above preindustrial averages, a point the report – involving 160 scientists across 23 countries – confirms we’re well beyond. […]

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