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Coral reefs are the ocean's richest ecosystem in terms of biodiversity and productivity. They are restricted to tropical waters where conditions of salinity, temperature and sedimentation are suitable. Where they grow, their main benthic organisms deposit substantial limestone skeletons, such that they effectively make their own habitat which sustains their dynamic nature and supports the wide range of species which inhabit them. Reefs grow to the low tide level, thus providing a breakwater, but the richest parts lie 5–20 metres below the surface where light is still sufficient but where sediment and turbulence are not severe. Reefs may occur as narrow fringes bordering a continental coast, to huge offshore barriers of corals, to series of atolls that support entire nations; the biogenic nature of corals is enormously important to mankind.

Chapter 2, ““And Then We Wept”: Coral Death on Record,” documents the despair side of the pendulum as it contemplates the existing modes and technologies for recording coral bleaching and death. Here, the trajectory is typically of devastation and gloom, as the numbers are depressing at best. Much of the chapter focuses on the third global bleaching event at the Great Barrier Reef, documenting how scientists have both recorded and narrated this event to themselves and to the general public. I examine the role of monitoring in particular, considering whether enhancing scientific knowledge about corals through monitoring is an act of hope, in that it supports conservation action, or one of despair, as it stifles such action and masks the resulting inaction with more and more monitoring. Finally, the chapter shows that even in the world of numbers and maps, “bright spots” and optimistic indexes still rear their more hopeful heads.

Coral reefs are the ocean’s richest ecosystem in terms of biodiversity and productivity. They are restricted to tropical waters, where conditions of salinity, temperature and sedimentation are suitable. Where they grow, their main benthic organisms deposit substantial limestone skeletons, such that they effectively make their own habitat which sustains their dynamic nature and supports the wide range of species which inhabit them. Reefs grow to the low tide level, thus providing a breakwater, but the richest parts lie 5–20 metres below the surface, an area where light is still sufficient but where sediment and turbulence are not severe. Reefs may occur as narrow fringing reefs bordering a continental coast, as huge offshore barrier reefs or as series of atolls that support entire nations; the biogenic nature of corals is enormously important to mankind.

Popularized by scientists in the 1970s, adaptive management is an integrative, multi-disciplinary approach to managing landscapes and natural resources. Despite its broad appeal many critics complain that adaptive management rarely works in practice as prescribed in theory. This chapter traces the history and evolution of the concept and assess its implementation challenges. One reason adaptive management has not always delivered on its promise to make natural resource management more “rational” is that in the real world of policymaking scientists and natural resource managers must contend with advocates that have conflicting values and goals. Scientists and managers also operate in the context of institutions that create particular constraints and opportunities, and are generally inflexible and resistant to change. In recognition of these sociopolitical realities, the focus of much adaptive management practice and scholarship has shifted to governance, particularly collaboration with stakeholders, transformation of the institutions responsible for management, and the process of social learning.

Seven regions are described in terms of their pollution history, other synergistic human pressures, the current challenges and management approaches. Although the timing and detailed impacts vary, primarily for historical reasons, between regions all show similar patterns of change. Sea regions exposed to centuries of human activity (North Sea, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Chesapeake Bay) are considered, as are those for which pollution is more recent (Canadian LOMAs and Coral Sea), and those expected to experience intense pressure in the near future (Arctic Ocean). Nutrients from agriculture and sewage from growing human populations are ubiquitous and not easily managed in marine systems. Controls on industrial discharges have succeeded in halting, sometimes reversing, degradation in some regions (Black Sea, Mediterranean, North Sea, Chesapeake Bay). However, shipping, coastal development and offshore infrastructure continue to apply pressure. While most regions are subject to international agreements and management regimes the effectiveness varies.

When a species is threatened with extinction, the loss of value in fact concerns an entire ecosystem that is impoverished or may be threatened with collapse. For the economist, the real difficulty with biodiversity is that a value has to be given to the diversity of life that clearly does not lie in adding up the value of each species, but much more in their multiple interrelationships that provide us with so many services essential for life. The complex issue cannot be evaded if green capital is really to be incorporated into the functioning of the economy.