Reef Bleaching Global; At Least 38 Nations Or Island Groups; Hitting Reefs In All Tropical Oceans
The longest and most widespread coral bleaching event on record has reached reefs near at least 38 countries and island groups, according to the latest report from NOAA's Coral Reef Watch and other research. Parts of many coral reefs have died, becoming ghostly underwater graveyards. They are perhaps the starkest reminders—like the melting Arctic—that a thickening blanket of greenhouse gases is irrevocably changing the face of the Earth.
Reefs are not only beautiful to behold, they also play a key role in ocean ecosystems. When the surrounding water gets too warm, corals start to expel symbiotic algae that helps keep them alive and gives them their color. Bleaching in popular tourist spots like the Maldives and Great Barrier Reef has grabbed recent headlines, but reefs in all the world's tropical oceans have been affected.
Coral mortality has reportedly been as high as 50 percent along previously healthy sections of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. There was even higher mortality around small islands in the central Pacific, in the pool of water overheated by the recent strong El Niño.
"There's even worse news ahead," said Mark Eakin, coordinator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coral Reef Watch. "There are a lot of places with similar mortality rates. We've got bleaching going on from the east coast of Africa to French Polynesia. Right now, it's basically covering half the Southern Hemisphere." Eakin warned that if the wave of bleaching follows historic patterns, corals near Florida and in the Caribbean will be hit hard again this summer. "The biggest story in terms of severity right now is in central equatorial Pacific," he said. "It's in the heart of the El Niño zone. That's why the heat stress is so high there. It's really extreme. Right now, we're really in a transitional season, where the equatorial region is getting hit the worst. We're likely to see more bleaching in the western Pacific, in Micronesia and the Coral Triangle."
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http://insideclimatenews.org/news/07062016/coral-bleaching-alarms-scientists-climate-change-global-warming-great-barrier-reef
