Impacts from increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide and pressures from other man-made stressors like overfishing and reduced water quality can in combination push coral reefs from spectacular places of biodiversity to species-poor areas covered in seaweeds. The recent modeling study by Anthony and colleagues show that vigilant protection of coral reefs from overfishing and pollution can buy reefs some time until carbon emissions are reduced. Elimination of local stressors can not compensate for the increasing stress on reefs from CO2 driven warming and acidification, however. Reduced global carbon emissions as well as vigilant management of local-scale stressors is the only recipe for healthy coral reefs in the 21st century. Photos courtesy of Paul Marshall and Ken Anthony