In spite of its disturbing implications, the impact of climate change on our physical environment can be difficult for us to understand or imagine. Moving from a memoir of a journey through an abundant yet fragile natural world to the daunting scientific evidence that climate change will lead to the degradation of nature and upheaval within society, this essay offers a lucid personal approach to the pivotal dilemma of our time. In a wide-ranging discussion that embraces science, history, art, language and identity, A Green Reef offers the reader an understanding of what climate change means for life on earth.