CNN witnesses the damage to the Great Barrier Reef in special documentary 'Race to Save the Reef'

'This is the beginning of a planetary catastrophe'-- Charlie Veron

HONG KONG,Aug.21,2018 -- In a special half-hour documentary,CNN's Ivan Watson dives underwater to see the impact of climate change on Australia's Great Barrier Reef-- damage,which one expert claims,could trigger a "mass extinction".

Race to Save the Reef

CNN meets Charlie Veron,the world's foremost expert on coral reefs,who has spent 45 years of his life diving in the Great Barrier Reef and has personally discovered 20 percent of the world's coral species.

Veron has been described as 'a modern-day Charles Darwin' by Sir David Attenborough,but Veron has also spent decades warning the world and creating awareness about the decline of the reef,where record warm temperatures have bleached and killed more than half of its coral in just two years.

In its entirety,the marine park is bigger than two thirds of the countries on Earth. Veron takes Watson deep into aquamarine waters to get a snapshot of the reef's ecosystem and the impact of climate change up close.

"We've got now the phenomenon of a mass extinction event looming," Veron tells CNN. "Somewhere between a quarter and a third of all marine species everywhere has some part of their life cycle in coral reefs. So,you take out coral reefs and a third to a quarter of all species gets wiped out. Now that is ecological chaos,it is ecological collapse."

CNN hears how the Australian government has pumped nearly $400 million into protecting the reef,but Veron believes that money alone will not provide a solution: "Part of being human is to not worry about the long-term future. Always the here and now. Two decades ago,I would never dream of the Great Barrier Reef would be like this now. We just don't think ahead."

Watson travels to the Australian Institute of Marine Science,where scientists are experimenting with new technologies to help protect the reef. CNN learns these range from robots to sun shields,but also includes research into breeding temperature-resistant coral to live in the wild.

When asked what lessons humans can take from the current plight of the reef,Veron tells CNN: "Coral bleaching is driven by carbon dioxide,unless you stop pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere,it'll go on. It's as simple as that. There's no way around it,there's no alternative… The lesson from geology are that's the trigger of mass extinction. We can't - as humans - can't exist independently of the welfare of that planet."

'Race to Save the Reef' trailer: https://cnn.it/2vPC8pG

'Race to Save the Reef' images: https://bit.ly/2Btg7Cm

Airtimes for 30-minute special:

Saturday,25th August at 2030 HKT and 2330 HKT

Sunday,26th August at 0330 HKT and 0830 HKT

Monday,27th August at 0030 HKT and 1130 HKT

Tuesday,28th August at 1730 HKT

Wednesday,29th August at 0030 HKT and 1630 HKT

Sunday,2nd September at 1330 HKT

About CNN International

CNN's portfolio of news and information services is available in seven different languages across all major TV,digital and mobile platforms reaching more than 475 million households around the globe. CNN International is the number one international TV news channel according to all major media surveys across Europe,the Middle East and Africa,the Asia Pacific region and Latin America and has a US presence which includes CNNgo. CNN Digital is a leading network for online news,mobile news and social media. CNN is at the forefront of digital innovation and continues to invest heavily in expanding its digital global footprint,with a suite of award-winning digital properties and a range of strategic content partnerships,commercialised through a strong data-driven understanding of audience behaviours. Over the years CNN has won multiple prestigious awards around the world for its journalism. Around 1,000 hours of long-form series,documentaries and specials are produced every year by CNNI's non-news programming division,CNN Vision. CNN has 36 editorial offices and more than 1,100 affiliates worldwide through CNN Newsource. CNN International is part of Turner,a WarnerMedia company.

Photo - /20180820/2215949-1