The world is on the verge of a fourth mass coral bleaching event which could see wide swathes of tropical reefs die, including parts of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said.
The world is on the verge of a fourth mass coral bleaching event which could see wide swathes of tropical reefs die, including parts of Australia's Great Barrier Reef , the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) said. Marine biologists are on high alert following months of record-breaking ocean heat fueled by climate change and the El Nino climate pattern.
"It's looking like the entirety of the Southern Hemisphere is probably going to bleach this year," said ecologist Derek Manzello, the coordinator of NOAA's Coral Reef Watch which serves as the global monitoring authority on coral bleaching risk. "We are literally sitting on the cusp of the worst bleaching event in the history of the planet," he said. These details have not previously been reported. Triggered by heat stress, coral bleaching occurs when corals expel the colorful algae living in their tissues. Without these helpful algae, the corals become pale and are vulnerable to starvation and disease
Coral Bleaching Climate Change Great Barrier Reef NOAA El Nino