Global Coral Bleaching Event Is 'Biggest To Date,' Affecting 84% Of All Reefs, New Report Finds
The impacts of warming global temperatures are having a catastrophic effect on the planet's coral reefs, a new report has concluded.
Released Wednesday, the findings from the International Coral Reef Initiative revealed that 84% of the world's coral reefs have been impacted by a bleaching event that started in 2023 and remains ongoing. During that time, global temperatures have soared to the highest levels ever recorded, and that heat is being absorbed by our oceans, warming the corals to dangerous levels.
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Scientists say it's upending a key piece of the underwater ecosystem that's home to 25% of all marine species, according to the Associated Press. And recent bleaching events have been so severe that more levels had to be added to the alert scale managed by NOAA's Coral Reef Watch.
- "The ongoing global coral bleaching event is the biggest to date." -NOAA
- "We may never see the heat stress that causes bleaching dropping below the threshold that triggers a global event. We're looking at something that's completely changing the face of our planet and the ability of our oceans to sustain lives and livelihoods." -Mark Eakin, corresponding secretary for the International Coral Reef Society
- "Mass bleaching has frequently coincided with episodes of El Niño, a global climate pattern that usually increases temperatures. That was the case in 1998, 2016 and again last year, which was the warmest year on record." -The Washington Post
In addition to providing life for numerous sea creatures, coral reefs also play an important role in keeping us safer from extreme weather. Their presence can lessen the impact of storms along coastlines – including the Florida coast during hurricane season – and they can also reduce the amount of erosion that occurs along the shore.
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Ecologists say these are all reasons why the corals simply must be protected from death by overheating, and although their conservation efforts are helping in some areas, the experts say slowing global warming is the only way to prevent a catastrophic loss before the end of the century.
"The ancestors of today's corals survived the impact of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs on land and a lot of creatures in the sea," Joerg Wiedenmann, a marine biologist who leads the Coral Reef Laboratory at the University of Southampton in England, told the Washington Post. "So, if we manage to decrease ocean warming, there is always a chance for corals to recover."
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