(a species of owlet moth (Noctuid)) Some caterpillars, after they emerge from their egg, can increase their weight by 25,000 times.

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Fate of reefs depends on Copenhagen summit

Coral reefs could be condemned to extinction at next month’s Copenhagen climate summit, at an economic cost of nearly £600,000 per hectare in some areas, and a loss of livelihood for 500 million people. That was the warning given by Pavan Sukhdev, of the United Nations Environment Programme, in the video interview above.

The future of coral reefs has reached a tipping point and the outcome of the Copenhagen Summit will have a big impact, according to Sukhdev.

Oceans are vulnerable to climate change because increasing levels of carbon dioxide can be dissolved in water, making the oceans more acidic.

At Copenhagen, governments are likely to talk about limiting carbon dioxide emissions so they only make up 450 parts per million (0.045%) of the atmosphere. But Sukhdev warns that this level is too high.

If levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere go above 350 parts per million (0.035%) then the oceans will become too acidic for corals to form, he declared.

‘Our representatives at Copenhagen are making a choice on our behalf either to have – or not to have – coral reefs,’ he announced. ‘If you do not agree with their choice then this is the time to let them know.’

About the video

Pavan Sukhdev is a senior banker at Deutsche Bank and is currently on secondment to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to lead the agency’s Green Economy Initiative, which includes The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity study (TEEB), the Green Economy Report and the Green Jobs report.

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Over three million people visit the Museum each year, more than the population of London when the Museum was built, in 1881

Research on reefs

A coral reef near the Seychelles

Two big coral extinctions have taken place in the past 25 million years, when many species of coral died out. Museum scientist Ken Johnson studies these extinctions to find out what they can tell us about the way coral reefs will respond to climate change today.

Find out more about his work and the effects of climate change on the oceans.

Extinction of coral reefs