KarunaNews Story

The world’s coral reefs are close to 25% larger than we thought, say Mitchell Lyons and Stuart Phinn, of the University of Queensland, whose Allen Coral Atlas is the first comprehensive map of coral reefs and their composition. By using satellite images, machine learning and on-ground knowledge from a global network of more than 400 people living and working on coral reefs, they found an extra 64,000 square kilometers. That brings the total size of the planet’s shallow reefs (meaning 0-20 meters deep) to 348,000 square kilometers - the size of Germany. Reef management agencies already are using the maps, which have three levels of detail, to plan and assess conservation work and threats to reefs.