(FILES) In this underwater photo taken on April 5, 2024, marine biologist Anne Hoggett snorkels to inspect and record bleached and dead coral around Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef, located 270 kilometres (167 miles) north of the city of Cairns. Coral reefs could vanish in as little as a decade, warned a landmark UN report by dozens of global experts on December 17, 2024, impacting nearly one billion people who benefit from these highly threatened marine ecosystems. "Coral reefs are the most endangered ecosystems and may disappear globally in the next 10 to 50 years," said the report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP) (Photo by DAVID GRAY/AFP via Getty Images)