Why the Great Barrier Reef’s Alarming Coral Loss Matters to All of Us

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Cover of the CCDH report titled “Healthy coral reef with diverse marine life under clear tropical waters, sunlight streaming through the surface.
A vibrant coral reef teeming with marine life, a reminder of what’s at stake in the fight against climate change.

The Great Barrier Reef is a living system that protects coastlines, supports marine life, sustains fisheries, and drives tourism economies. It’s also part of the cultural heritage of Australia’s First Nations peoples, who have cared for these waters for tens of thousands of years.

And right now, it’s under serious pressure.

The latest report from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) delivers the clearest picture yet of what’s happening beneath the surface and the numbers are sobering. After the most widespread and severe coral bleaching event ever recorded on the Reef, coral cover has dropped sharply across all three major regions.

What the Scientists Found

Between August 2024 and May 2025, AIMS scientists surveyed 124 reefs. They found:

  • Largest annual coral loss in nearly 40 years of monitoring.

  • Declines in coral cover of 14% to 30% regionally, with some reefs losing up to 70.8% of their coral.

  • Nearly half of reefs (48%) saw declines; only 10% improved.

Bleaching wasn’t the only culprit. Cyclones, flood plumes, and outbreaks of the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster cf. solaris) compounded the damage. But bleaching caused by marine heatwaves was by far the biggest driver.

The 2024 Bleaching Event: A Breaking Point

The 2024 bleaching was the fifth mass bleaching event on the Reef since 2016 and part of a global wave of bleaching that began in 2023. It was unprecedented in scale:

  • High to extreme bleaching was recorded on 49% of surveyed reefs.

  • Some areas in the Southern GBR experienced degree heating weeks (DHW) above 15—nearly double the threshold at which corals begin dying en masse.

  • Fast-growing Acropora corals, which help reefs recover quickly after damage, were among the hardest hit.

In plain terms: The heat didn’t just stress the Reef—it killed large sections outright.

How the Regions Fared

  • Northern GBR: Coral cover fell from 39.8% to 30% — a 24.8% drop, the largest annual decline on record for the region. Losses were worst around Lizard Island.

  • Central GBR: Dropped from 33.2% to 28.6% (–13.9%), with bleaching and flood plumes north of Cairns doing the most damage.

  • Southern GBR: Fell from 38.9% to 26.9% (–30.6%), the steepest annual drop ever recorded there. Many reefs saw more than half their coral vanish in a single year.

Why This Matters to All of Us

Coral reefs are the foundation of marine biodiversity. Without them coastal communities lose protection from storms and erosion. Fisheries decline, threatening food supplies and livelihoods. Tourism industries falter, hitting economies hard. Cultural heritage suffers, particularly for Traditional Owners whose histories and traditions are tied to these waters. And globally, reefs act as early warning systems. What happens here is a signal of what’s coming elsewhere.

Recovery Is Possible, But the Window Is Shrinking

Historically, reefs could bounce back from damage over a decade or more. Now, mass bleaching events are hitting roughly every two years. That’s not enough time for full recovery.

Still, there’s hope. The GBR remains one of the healthier large reef systems on Earth, and local interventions are making a difference:

  • Crown-of-thorns starfish control programs are slowing outbreaks.

  • Water quality improvements are reducing local stress.

  • Coral restoration projects are helping reseed damaged areas.

But without global action to curb greenhouse gas emissions, these efforts can only buy time.

The Bottom Line

The 2024–2025 coral loss is a signal that climate impacts are accelerating and hitting ecosystems faster than they can adapt. Protecting the Reef is not optional. It’s about safeguarding biodiversity, food security, culture, and the natural defenses that protect millions of people.

We still have a choice. Every fraction of a degree of avoided warming, every reef protected from starfish outbreaks, every local stress reduced—it all matters. The Reef’s survival depends on what we do next.

Source: Australian Institute of Marine Science. (2025). Long-term monitoring program: Annual summary report of coral reef condition 2024–25. Australian Institute of Marine Science.

When Disaster Strikes, So Do the Lies: How Misinformation Makes Weather Emergencies Worse

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Cover of the CCDH report titled “Extreme Weather,” featuring images of a wildfire, hurricane, flood response team, and destroyed homes, with a subtitle warning about the spread of false climate information on social media.
Cover of Extreme Weather, a 2025 report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, examining how social media platforms allow climate misinformation to spread during natural disasters — putting lives at risk. Source: Center for Countering Digital Hate, 2025

When deadly floods swept through Texas during the July 4th weekend of 2025, families searched for help and answers. But instead of facts, many found dangerous lies online — like claims that the government had used “weather weapons” to cause the disaster.

It sounds far-fetched, but these ideas aren’t just fringe conspiracy theories anymore. They’re reaching millions of people, right when those people need trustworthy information the most. In moments when accurate updates can save lives, false claims on social media can confuse, scare, and even cause harm — and that’s exactly what’s happening on platforms like X, YouTube, and Facebook.

What’s Happening?

A new report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) found that false claims about disasters like floods, wildfires, and hurricanes are spreading quickly across social media. The researchers reviewed 300 of the most-liked misleading posts from April 2023 to April 2025.

Here’s what they discovered:

  • These posts gained over 221 million views.

  • Nearly all went unlabeled and unchallenged — no fact-checks, no warnings, no corrections.

  • Some of the most extreme lies — like the idea that natural disasters were caused by “weather weapons” — were given huge platforms, even after real tragedies.

One of the most troubling examples came from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who claimed the Texas floods were caused by government interference. His posts weren’t hidden or flagged. They were amplified.

Who’s Behind It?

It turns out that many of these misleading posts came from verified users. On Twitter, that blue checkmark, once meant to help people spot reliable voices, is now, on X, being sold and used by those spreading misinformation.

  • 88% of the false posts on X came from verified users.
  • 73% on YouTube, and 64% on Meta (Facebook and Instagram).

One of the most high-profile figures in the study is Alex Jones, a far-right media personality and conspiracy theorist best known for his website InfoWars. Jones has promoted numerous false claims over the years — including that the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax. For these and other violations of platform policies on hate speech, harassment, and misinformation, he was banned from Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter between 2018 and 2020.

However, Jones returned to X (formerly Twitter) after the platform reinstated several previously banned accounts in 2023. During the LA wildfires in 2025, Jones used his X account to spread false claims that FEMA was confiscating food and that the fires were part of a “globalist plot.” His wildfire-related posts received over 408 million views — more than FEMA and 10 major news outlets combined during that period.

Even when banned users like Jones couldn’t post directly on some platforms, their false messages lived on. Others reposted their claims or created content that echoed their talking points. On YouTube, for example, 1 in 3 misleading videos led to more misleading videos through the “Up Next” panel.

Why It’s Dangerous

It’s easy to think, “People won’t believe that stuff.” But the truth is, misinformation can cause real harm — especially during emergencies.

  • Some victims avoid seeking aid, believing false claims that disaster relief is only given to certain groups.

  • First responders have been threatened after lies spread about their efforts.

  • A man in Oklahoma vandalized a weather radar system, thinking it was part of a weather-control conspiracy.

And the consequences don’t stop there. A cloud seeding company received over 100 death threats due to false claims linking it to the floods.

How Big Is the Problem?

The reach of misinformation is staggering.

  • Alex Jones’ posts about the LA wildfires alone received 408 million views on X. That’s more than FEMA and 10 major news outlets combined during the same period.

  • In the week following the Texas floods, false posts blaming cloud seeding or climate hoaxes racked up 8.4 million views — without a single fact-check.

These lies are spreading faster than the truth. That’s a big problem.

What Needs to Change

We need to expect more from social media platforms. Here’s what the CCDH report found:

  • Less than 2% of false posts were labeled or fact-checked.

  • Platforms are still profiting — through ads, subscriptions, and increased engagement — even when the content is dangerous.

That means the current system rewards outrage and falsehoods, not truth. And when disaster strikes, that business model puts people at risk.

What You Can Do

We don’t need to wait for platforms to act. Each of us has a role to play in slowing the spread of dangerous misinformation.

Here are a few simple actions we can take:

  • Follow trusted sources like FEMA, your local emergency services, and reliable news outlets.

  • Think before sharing: If something sounds too wild to be true, double-check it first.

  • Report harmful posts that spread misinformation during emergencies.

Collectively, taking these small steps helps us help our communities stay informed and safe.

Summing Up

The next hurricane, wildfire, or flood isn’t a matter of if — it’s when. And in those crucial hours, the difference between truth and lies could mean life or death.

That’s why it’s so important to demand better from platforms — and do our part to protect each other. Let’s make sure the next time disaster strikes, facts come first.

Source: Center for Countering Digital Hate. (2025). Extreme Weather: How social media platforms profit from climate denial and misinformation during disasters. https://counterhate.com/research/extreme-weather-false-claims/

Ancient African Ingenuity: What 11,000 Years of Climate Adaptation Can Teach Us Today

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Silhouetted trees and forest under a golden African sunset sky.
A glowing sunset over the African landscape—reminding us of the continent’s long history of resilience and adaptation.

We often talk about climate change like it’s a new threat. But humanity has been navigating climate shifts for thousands of years. One of the most inspiring stories comes from ancient Africa. Long before modern tools or technology, communities across the continent developed smart, adaptable ways to survive—and even thrive—as their environments changed.

What they figured out could still help us today.

What Was the Holocene?

The Holocene is the name scientists give to the current period of Earth’s history. It began around 11,000 years ago, just after the last Ice Age. During this time, the world’s climate became warmer and wetter—and then later, drier in many places. These shifts had a huge impact on rivers, grasslands, forests, and deserts. And that, in turn, shaped how people could live and find food.

In Africa, the Holocene included a time called the African Humid Period (around 14,700–5,500 years ago). During this period, parts of the Sahara were green and full of lakes. But when the rains stopped, the region slowly turned into the desert we know today.

Smart Survival: Different Ways to Live

Faced with changing weather and landscapes, ancient African communities didn’t stick to just one way of living. Instead, they used a mix of four main strategies:

  • Herding animals (pastoralism): Raising animals like cattle, goats, and sheep for milk, meat, and other products.

  • Growing crops (cultivation): Planting and harvesting food like grains, fruits, and vegetables.

  • Fishing: Catching fish and using water-based resources near rivers, lakes, or the ocean.

  • Foraging (hunting and gathering): Collecting wild plants and hunting animals for food.

Instead of depending on just one of these, many people blended them. That’s what made their way of life so strong.

What the Bones Tell Us

So how do we know all this?

Scientists looked at ancient human and animal bones from all over Africa and studied tiny chemical clues inside them, called isotopes. These isotopes—especially of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N)—help tell us what people were eating. For example:

  • If someone ate mostly plants that grow in dry, sunny places (like millet), their bones have a different carbon signature than someone who ate forest-grown foods (like wheat or fruits).

  • Higher nitrogen levels often meant people were eating more animal products or fish.

This method, called isotopic analysis, allowed researchers to map out who was eating what, where, and when.

Why Herding Was So Powerful

One of the most flexible strategies turned out to be herding animals. Herding was like a moving pantry—people could take their animals to where the grass and water were, even during dry spells. That mobility gave them a huge advantage when the climate got less predictable.

In fact, scientists found that herding-based ways of life were the most widespread, showing up at over 60% of the archaeological sites studied. This helped communities survive in deserts, mountains, savannas, and everywhere in between.

Key benefits of herding:

  • Could move with the seasons and rainfall

  • Didn’t rely on planting or harvesting schedules

  • Provided milk, meat, and even materials like dung for fuel

Mixing Strategies

But what made these ancient strategies so effective wasn’t just herding or farming on their own—it was how people mixed and matched them.

Some communities combined herding with fishing, or farming with foraging. These “mixed livelihood strategies” gave them more options, more stability, and more resilience when things changed unexpectedly—like a drought, or a failed crop.

For example:

  • People in southern Africa fished in coastal areas while also hunting and gathering wild foods.

  • In East Africa, communities used both crops and animals, creating a safety net of food sources.

  • In northern Africa, herding and farming coexisted in regions with limited rainfall.

This variety helped them bounce back from environmental shocks—and it’s something we can learn from today.

What This Means Today

Today, climate change is hitting some communities harder than others—especially in parts of Africa. But the story of the past offers hope. These ancient strategies show that flexibility and diversity can be powerful tools for survival.

Modern farming often focuses on a single crop. But as the climate becomes more unpredictable, we may need to return to more blended, locally tailored approaches.

Lessons we can apply today:

  • Encourage farming that includes both plants and animals.

  • Support local fishing and foraging knowledge where it still exists.

  • Design policies that allow communities to adapt rather than stick to one-size-fits-all solutions.

By looking back, we see that people have always been capable of adapting with intelligence and creativity. The question is whether we’ll choose to do the same—especially now, with even more at stake.

Sources: Phelps, L. N., Davis, D. S., Chen, J. C., Monroe, S., Mangut, C., Lehmann, C. E. R., & Douglass, K. (2025). Africa-wide diversification of livelihood strategies: Isotopic insights into Holocene human adaptations to climate change. One Earth, 8(6), 101304. https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2590332225001307