0 · the surface
The ocean has absorbed ninety per cent of the heat.
The ocean has taken up more than 90% of the excess heat accumulated in the Earth system. From the surface, the change can be hard to see. Dive through an imagined reef and explore what a warmer world could mean.
01 · a living reef
A small part of the ocean. A world of life.
Reefs occur in less than one per cent of the ocean, yet are home to nearly one-quarter of ocean species. The reef around you is a procedural illustration inspired by the Indian Ocean. Its colours and scenario values are examples, not a survey of Lamu or another field site.
02 · a warmer world
A warmer world can turn a reef white.
When water remains too warm, corals can lose the algae that give them much of their colour. IPCC SR15 projects a further 70–90% decline in coral reefs at 1.5°C of global warming. That global assessment is not a forecast for this imagined reef.
03 · contrasting futures
At two degrees, more than ninety-nine per cent.
IPCC SR15 projects larger coral reef losses, greater than 99%, at 2°C of global warming. The two scene pathways use stylized colour changes to tell that wider story. Their dates and cover values are illustrative; they are not local climate projections.
04 · a restoration concept
Restoration offers a way to buy time.
This imagined nursery shows coral fragments on frames. It explores restoration as part of caring for a reef, alongside reducing the pressures that harm it. These are simulated structures, not an operating nursery or a claim about proven survival at this site.
05 · the choice
Two pathways. One reef to care about.
Switch between the lower and higher warming illustrations, then travel back through the reef. Both use sample values to explore a possible story. The difference invites a conversation about climate, restoration and the choices around them.