About 36% of the world’s coral reefs are under official death watch because of high water temperatures, according to scientists from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Damage to coral around the Pacific island of Kiritimati is particularly bad as it’s where the effects of El Nino, on top of climate change, are taking the biggest toll. Georgia Tech climate scientist Kim Cobb, “This El Nino has its most powerful grip right at this spot.” In The Conversation, two Australian scientists present a bleak picture of the Great Barrier Reef, with more than 1,000 km showing signs of significant bleaching.
The World Resources Institute, a climate organisation based in Washington DC, has published analysis showing which countries have achieved emissions decoupling by comparing British Petroleum data (BP) on greenhouse emissions (GHE) to World Bank data on gross domestic product (GDP). The BP data contains GHE statistics from 67 countries; 21 of these have decreased their emissions while growing their GDP in the period 2000-2014. The International Energy Agency (IEA) claims that global GHE plateaued in 2014-2015, even as the economy grew. The study demonstrates the positive feasibility of transitioning to cleaner economic activity. However, it equally indicates the total annual global carbon dioxide emissions grew to 10bmt in the study period, emphasising that decoupling needs to be scaled up rapidly.