Thanks to a changing global climate, warming ocean temperatures and acidification, coral reefs around the world are dying. Fast. It's projected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that if we don't rescue them now, 90% of the planet's reefs will disappear by 2050.

In island nations like the Maldives, reef systems built over millions of years are essential for protection, food and income. "If we don't save the corals now, we're talking the death of a nation," says Maldives Environmental Minister Aminath Shauna.

Finding ways to preserve and regrow coral reefs has become an emergency for many throughout the chain of 1,200 islands in the Indian Ocean.

"We've already fooled with Mother Nature and look how the planet has responded," says former President Mohamed Nasheed. "Everything is more: the winds are stronger, the waves are higher, the droughts are longer, the sun is hotter and the coral are dying."

21 minutes

Directed by Jon Bowermaster

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