New Podcast Published with Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg
In this podcast, the Great Simplification Podcast, hosted by The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future, Ove shares a wealth of information on why coral reef conservation is so critical and how heartbreaking it is to witness their decline.
Professor Hoegh-Guldberg explains how reefs support 25% of all ocean biodiversity, the impacts of ocean acidification and mass bleaching events, and why initiatives like the GEF 7 Coral Reef Rescue Project are essential to their protection.
About this episode
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 Hagens 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?
About Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg
Ove Hoegh-Guldberg is Professor Emeritus 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.
Coral Reef Rescue Resources
In this podcast, Professor Hoegh-Guldberg highlights the work of the Coral Reef Rescue Project and the new resources this project has created to help conservation teams on the ground.
Explore the Coral Reef Rescue Portal today and join the global effort to safeguard the future of coral reefs.
Register for these free online courses on coral reefs.
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