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A Reef in Time
The Great Barrier Reef from Beginning to End
J.E.N. Veron

Charlie Veron’s Silent Spring for the world’s coral reefs

Like many coral specialists fifteen years ago, Charlie Veron thought Australia's Great Barrier Reef was
impervious to climate change. Not anymore.

In A Reef in Time, Veron presents the geological history of the reef, the biology of coral reef ecosystems, and a primer on what we know about climate change. He concludes that the Great Barrier Reef and, indeed, most coral reefs will be dead from mass bleaching and irreversible acidification within the coming century unless greenhouse gas emissions are curbed. If we don't have the political will to confront the plight of the world's reefs, he argues, current processes already in motion will become unstoppable, bringing on a mass extinction the world has not seen for 65 million years.

Our species has cracked its own genetic code and sent representatives of its kind to the moon—we can
certainly save the world's reefs if we want to. But to achieve this goal, we must devote scientific expertise and political muscle to the development of green technologies that will dramatically reduce greenhouse emissions and reverse acidification of the oceans.

Charlie Veron

About the author J. E. N. Veron is former Chief Scientist with the Australian Institute of Marine Science. The recipient of the 2004 Darwin Medal of the International Society for Reef Studies, he is also the author of the three-volume Corals of the World.