The emissions in our atmosphere are at work, heating the planet, acidifying our oceans, and leading to climate-fueled disasters: heat waves, fires, flooding, droughts, and storms. For some climate impacts, devastation can be followed by the painstaking work of recovery. But for many natural systems, like our tropical coral reefs, the stress we are putting on them is reaching the realms of permanent decline and ultimate collapse.
In June 2011, Baa Atoll in the Maldives became a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve along with the likes of Komodo Island in Indonesia and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador. The atoll is home to one of the largest groups of coral reefs in the Indian Ocean (it's the seventh largest in the world) and supports over 1,200 species of fish and 250 species of coral.
