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Florida coral reefs are facing an unprecedented threat from a sudden marine heat wave that has pushed water temperatures to 90 Fahrenheit.. Sea surface temperatures around the coast have reached ...
Manzello added that water temperatures in the Atlantic, in particular, have been the “most unprecedented and extreme” and said 99.7% of Atlantic reef areas have experienced bleaching-level ...
Unusually warm waters in the Caribbean Sea are fueling what some scientists say is the region’s worst episode of coral bleaching ever recorded — yet another worrisome development in what has ...
Bleached Acropora coral with normal coral in the background. Elevated sea water temperatures are the main cause of mass bleaching events. [57] Sixty major episodes of coral bleaching have occurred between 1979 and 1990, [58] [59] with the associated coral mortality affecting reefs in every part of the world.
Perhaps the biggest threat to coral reefs comes from rising global temperatures. Most corals can only tolerate a 4–5 °C (39–41 °F) range in water temperatures. Under these adverse conditions, corals may expel their zooxanthellae and become bleached. As ocean waters warm beyond the tolerated temperature range, corals are dying. [14]
Warming seawater may also welcome the emerging problem of coral disease. Weakened by warm water, coral is much more prone to diseases including black band disease, white band disease and skeletal eroding band. If global temperatures increase by 2 °C during the twenty-first century, coral may not be able to adapt quickly enough to survive. [61]
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For example, rising water temperatures are harming tropical coral reefs. The direct effect is coral bleaching on these reefs, because they are sensitive to even minor temperature changes. So a small increase in water temperature could have a significant impact in these environments. Another example is loss of sea ice habitats due to warming.