Reef Rescue
Scientists are racing against time to save the world’s coral reefs before they’re lost forever
Over the past 30 years, roughly half of the planet’s coral has been lost. These vital underwater ecosystems are being damaged by pollution and overfishing. But rising water temperatures due to climate change are having the most catastrophic effect of all. Coral bleaching is a global epidemic that reduces vibrant and thriving reefs to rubble. At the current rate of loss, scientists predict that we will lose nearly all of the world’s coral in another 30 years.
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There are some glimmers of hope in the form of “super corals” that exist in small numbers, in some of the most unusual places. These coral species can withstand warmer water temperatures, and have been found in places like the Red Sea and off the urban shorelines of Miami.
Three scientists are on the forefront of researching the amazing properties of these corals: Ruth Gates from the U.S., Madeleine Van Oppen in Australia and Julia Baum from Canada — they are the “superwomen of super coral.”
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Reef Rescue follows these intrepid women as they race to harness the mysterious power of corals that seem to resist everything humanity has thrown at them. Using cutting-edge genetics, epigenetics and artificial reproduction to “assist evolution,” they are trying to recreate the properties of super corals, to rescue and rebuild dead and dying reefs all over the world.
Their work is already showing promising results and brand new breakthroughs offer hope that our ocean’s dying coral reefs can be rescued and protected in a warming world.
Watch Reef Rescue on The Nature of Things.
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