Book Review - Reefs of Time: What Fossils Reveal About Coral Survival - Princeton University Press

 

     As though we needed one more canary in the coalmine to alert us to the damage we have inflicted on the environment, the death of coral reefs is yet another sombre warning that our profligacy and inaction are having catastrophic consequences. 

     Lisa S. Gardiner, in fluid conversational prose, friendly and engaging, examines the prehuman fossil record and reveals what once was and may never be again. Coral reefs, with their riotous colour and myriad organisms, are among the most diverse and vibrant ecosystems on Earth, yet relentlessly and inexorably we are killing them. To be sure, throughout time corals have lived and died naturally, and have often recovered to thrive anew, but anthropogenic influences are accelerating reef deaths, and the situation is getting worse. 

     Climate change is the greatest threat of all - "We need to limit climate change by reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases. The longer it takes to stop climate warming, the more reefs we'll lose." Past resilience is no longer adequate.

     But surely one can only conclude that we have become an army of Don Quixotes tilting at windmills. There is outright denial of climate change at the highest levels of government, and indifference by others. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been eviscerated and most of its scientists fired, and funding and research have been eliminated or severely restricted. As the comic strip character, Pogo, exclaimed, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

     Coral reefs have a rich connection to humans throughout history providing food, wonder, tourism and education. All of this is threatened with extinction along with the parallel extinction of coral reefs. There are laudable attempts to save coral and to develop heat-resistant species, but even looking through the rosiest of rose-coloured spectacles one is bound to conclude that the tipping point has been crossed. 

     The black-and-white drawings and infographics  in the book are quite delightful and serve to please the reader and elucidate the text.

     When photographs are involved, however, the lack of colour renders them dismal. 

     If ever a book merited full colour illustrations it is a book on corals. A dull grey image does little to convey the vibrancy of a healthy reef. Perhaps production costs were an issue, but given PUP's extensive colour illustrations in most of its natural history and biology books in recent years, it puzzles me that we are not treated to colour in this instance.

     This is an important book with a significant message, and dire warnings for a world about to change drastically in the coming decades. 

     Lisa S. Gardiner has done an admirable job in alerting us to impending disaster. Sadly, it is unlikely to be read by those who have the ability to chart the course of radical change.  At COP conferences and other environmental symposia the rhetoric soars and the chest-pounding is loud. But little is ever done, targets are not met, commitments fall by the wayside, funds committed are not delivered, and the world plunges deeper into a terrifying scenario of our own making.

     If only action matched words.

Reefs of Time: What Fossils Reveal About Coral Survival - Princeton University Press

Lisa S. Gardiner

Hardcover - US$29.95 - ISBN: 9780691247335

288 pages - 6.125 x 9.25 inches (15.31 x 23.125 cm)

Publication date: 10 June, 2025