Will Coral Reefs Be Gone by 2050? How Bleaching, Acidification, and Ocean Heating are Killing Coral Reefs with Ove Hoegh-Guldberg

Will Coral Reefs Be Gone by 2050? How Bleaching, Acidification, and Ocean Heating are Killing Coral Reefs with Ove Hoegh-Guldberg

Twenty-five years ago, a landmark paper warned that the world's coral reefs could vanish by 2050. Now, halfway to that projected date (and amid ever more frequent coral bleaching events), that grim prediction feels increasingly close to reality. What is the current state of Earth's coral reefs, and what would happen to our planetary home without them?

In this episode, Nate is joined by Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, the marine biologist who made this landmark prediction, for an update on the health of coral reefs and the primary ecological stressors driving their decline. Drawing on decades of research, he explains the mechanisms of coral bleaching, the critical biodiversity hotspots that reefs create, and the implications for human populations that depend on these ecosystems. Ove also touches on the emotional impact of witnessing the loss of reefs for the scientists who have dedicated their lives to studying them.

How are human actions increasingly putting pressure on the very ecosystems that support more than one billion people? What would happen to the broader health of the oceans if reefs were to disappear entirely? And most of all, what changes can both individuals and institutions make today to support the health of these vital ecosystems – and in-turn, the well-being of the entire Earth?

(Conversation recorded on August 6th, 2025)

About Ove Hoegh-Guldberg:

Ove Hoegh-Guldberg is Professor of Marine Studies at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, as well as the Deputy Director of the Centre for Excellence in Coral Reef Studies. Over the past 10 years, he was also the Founding Director of the Global Change Institute. In addition to this work, Ove conceived and led the scientific XL-Catlin Seaview Survey which has surveyed over 1000 km of coral reefs across 25 countries and captured and analysed over 1 million survey images of coral reefs.

Ove's research focuses on the impacts of global change on marine ecosystems, and he is one of the most cited authors on climate change. He has also been a dedicated communicator of the threat posed by ocean warming and acidification to marine ecosystems, being one of the first scientists to identify the serious threat posed by climate change for coral reefs in a landmark paper published in 1999, which predicted the loss of coral reefs by 2050.

Show Notes and More

Watch this video episode on YouTube

Want to learn the broad overview of The Great Simplification in 30 minutes? Watch our Animated Movie.

---

Support The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future

Join our Substack newsletter

Join our Hylo channel and connect with other listeners

Jaksot(345)

Peter Whybrow: "When More is Not Enough"

Peter Whybrow: "When More is Not Enough"

On this episode we meet with psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and author Peter Whybrow. Whybrow gives us an overview of why humans tend to consume excessively in resource-abundant societies. Why is it difficult for humans to change our ways? Additionally, Whybrow shares pathways for humans to move toward having a well-tuned brain. About Peter Whybrow: Peter C. Whybrow, M.D. is Director Emeritus of the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at the University of California, Los Angeles, the Judson Braun Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine, and author of several books, including his newest, The Well-Tuned Brain: Neuroscience and the Life Well-Lived. For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/26-peter-whybrow

6 Heinä 20221h 21min

Meeting the Future Halfway | Frankly #4

Meeting the Future Halfway | Frankly #4

In this Frankly, Nate unpacks the choice of the podcast title "The Great Simplification", and how he thinks about responses - rather than solutions - to the challenges we face in the decade ahead of us. He lays out the framework for the scale and degrees for how we can elevate the chances for a positive future. He also reflects about what he's learned while hosting The Great Simplification and where he hopes to move forward in the future for the podcast. For Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/frankly-original/frankly-04-meeting-the-future-halfway To Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qs_cBThk3U

2 Heinä 202221min

Gerardo Ceballos: "Will the Ongoing Population Extinctions Lead to a 6th Mass Extinction?"

Gerardo Ceballos: "Will the Ongoing Population Extinctions Lead to a 6th Mass Extinction?"

On this episode, we meet with ecologist and conservationist Dr. Gerardo Ceballos. Ceballos discusses animal populations, the sixth mass extinction, his new project, Creatures United, and how we can better care about and protect Earth's remaining biodiversity. About Gerardo Ceballos: Dr. Gerardo Ceballos is an ecologist and conservationist very well-known for his theoretical and empirical work on animal ecology and conservation. He is particularly recognized by his influential work on global patterns of distribution of diversity, endemism, and extinction risk in vertebrates. Ceballos was the first scientist to publish the distribution of a complete group of organisms (mammals). He is also well – known for his contribution to understanding the magnitude and impacts of the sixth mass extinction; he has shown that vertebrate species that became extinct in the last century would have taken more than 10 thousand years under the "normal" extinction rate. For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/25-gerardo-ceballos

29 Kesä 20221h 37min

Jason Bradford: "A Hybrid Path to the Future of Farming"

Jason Bradford: "A Hybrid Path to the Future of Farming"

On this episode, Jason Bradford, who is an author, activist, farmer, and teacher, talks about the energy intensity of our modern industrial agriculture system. How do we feed billions of people with depleting energy systems? How do we also protect existing biodiversity and ecosystem health? We also discuss what makes for healthy soil, why we're losing it, and how small farms can help get it back - while creating higher yields of healthier foods for fewer inputs. About Jason Bradford: Jason Bradford has been affiliated with Post Carbon Institute since 2004, first as a Fellow and then as Board President. He grew up in the Bay Area of California and graduated from U.C. Davis with a B.S. in biology before earning his doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis, where he also taught ecology for a few years. After graduate school he worked for the Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development at the Missouri Botanical Garden, was a Visiting Scholar at U.C. Davis, and during that period co-founded the Andes Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research Group (ABERG). He decided to shift from academia to learn more about and practice sustainable agriculture, and in the process, completed six months of training with Ecology Action (aka GrowBiointensive) in Willits, California, and then founded Brookside School Farm. For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/24-jason-bradford

22 Kesä 20221h 13min

Energy Blindness | Frankly #3

Energy Blindness | Frankly #3

Nate explains how our culture is "energy blind" and the implications. The YouTube video, featuring charts and graphs, of this podcast is available now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVjhb8Nu1Sk For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/frankly-original/frankly-03-energy-blindness

21 Kesä 202224min

Tim Watkins: "From Living Like Gods to Living Your Own Story"

Tim Watkins: "From Living Like Gods to Living Your Own Story"

On this episode, we meet with author, social scientist, policy researcher, and mental health advocate Tim Watkins. Watkins gives us a bird's eye view of how energy, the economy, the environment, and mental health fit together. How important will mental health be to help us navigate uncertain times? About Tim Watkins: Tim Watkins is the author Consciousness of Sheep, social scientist, policy researcher, and mental health advocate. Watkins has authored a range of books, including numerous books and booklets on the subject mental health, wellbeing and self-help. In 2015 he published "Austerity - Will Kill the Economy", a critique of the economic policies adopted in the UK since 2010; and "Britain's Coming Energy Crisis - Peak Oil and the End of the World as we Know it", a guide to the UK's particular vulnerabilities in a world without cheap oil. Tim Watkins is a founder-director of Waye Forward Ltd. A qualified Life Coach, he also provides coaching, mentoring and support to other writers. For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/23-tim-watkins

15 Kesä 20221h 21min

Aza Raskin: "AI, The Shape of Language, and Earth's Species"

Aza Raskin: "AI, The Shape of Language, and Earth's Species"

On this episode, we meet with cofounder of the Earth Species Project, cofounder of the Center for Humane Technology, and cohost of the podcast Your Undivided Attention, Aza Raskin. Raskin gives us a general overview of what artificial intelligence is, how it's about to become more deeply embedded in our lives, and how he and his team plan to use AI as a Rosetta Stone to translate the languages of other species to - hopefully - expand human consciousness, empathy, and awareness of the other beings we share this planet with. About Aza Raskin: Aza is the cofounder of Earth Species Project, an open-source collaborative nonprofit dedicated to decoding animal communication. He is also the cofounder of the Center for Humane Technology and is the cohost for the podcast Your Undivided Attention. Trained as a mathematician and dark matter physicist, he has taken three companies from founding to acquisition, a co-chairing member of the World Economic Forum's Global AI Counsel, helped found Mozilla Labs, in addition to being named FastCompany's Master of Design, and listed on Forbes and Inc Magazines 30-under-30. For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/22-aza-raskin

8 Kesä 20221h 49min

Vicki Robin "Money and LIfe's Energy"

Vicki Robin "Money and LIfe's Energy"

Show Summary:  On this episode, we meet with social innovator, writer, and speaker, Vicki Robin. Robin unpacks how the machine of community begins. How does being vulnerable, sharing, and being obligated to others create a system that allows everyone to contribute?  Why do we need to learn to begin asking for help? Further, Robin shares how we can begin to take steps toward food resiliency. Robin shares the story of how she only ate food that was produced within a 10-mile radius of her home for 30 days, and how we should all begin to think and act locally. About Vicki Robin: Vicki Robin is a prolific social innovator, writer and speaker. She is coauthor with Joe Dominguez of the international best-seller, Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship With Money and Achieving Financial Independence (Viking Penguin, 1992, 1998, 2008, 2018). It was an instant NY Times best seller in 1992 and steadily appeared on the Business Week Best Seller list from 1992-1997. It is available now in twelve languages. Blessing the Hands that Feed Us; Lessons from a 10-mile diet (Viking/Penguin 2014) recounts her adventures in hyper-local eating and what she learned about food and farming as well as belonging and hope. For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/21-vicki-robin

1 Kesä 20221h 2min

Suosittua kategoriassa Tiede

utelias-mieli
rss-mita-tulisi-tietaa
hippokrateen-vastaanotolla
rss-poliisin-mieli
rss-lihavuudesta-podcast
docemilia
tiedekulma-podcast
rss-duodecim-lehti
rss-bios-podcast
rss-luontopodi-samuel-glassar-tutkii-luonnon-ihmeita
rss-lapsuuden-rakentajat-podcast
mielipaivakirja
radio-antro
filocast-filosofian-perusteet
rss-totta-vai-tuubaa
rss-astetta-parempi-elama-podcast
rss-tiedetta-vai-tarinaa
rss-ylistys-elaimille