https://www.europesays.com/uk/45560/ Thailand’s Coral Reefs Stage Impressive Comeback After Bleaching Event #breaching #CoralReefs #Environment #ocean #Science #Thailand #TheDepartmentOfMarineAndCoastalResources #UK #UnitedKingdom
This is one of my earlier photos and one of the first mornings I ever had where everything came together and the sky and ocean cooperated.
More than 80% of the world’s #reefs hit by bleaching after worst global event on record
Reefs in at least 82 countries were exposed to enough heat to turn corals white. #CoralReefs are known for their high concentration of biodiversity that supports about a third of all #marine species and a billion people. Record high #ocean temperatures have spread like an #underwater wildfire over corals across the #Pacific, #Atlantic and Indian oceans.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/23/coral-reef-bleaching-worst-global-event-on-record #climatechange #climatecrisis
Acc/to Wiedenmann, #CoralReefs support a third of all #marine #biodiversity either directly or indirectly. “If the #corals die, this support structure that provides food & homes is lost. Consequently, many #species will suffer, as well,” he said. Acc/to a 2020 study, rising #sea surface #temperatures & acidic waters could eliminate nearly all surviving #coral #reef #habitats by 2100.
…Beyond the loss of a thriving underwater #ecosystem, #coral death can degrade #reef structure & leave coastal communities vulnerable to #flooding hazards, acc/to USGS. In Florida, for example, #CoralReefs act as a natural buffer to #storm energy that can shield coastlines from destructive forces.
Since the early 1980s, scientists say, #CoralBleaching events have increased in frequency & severity as the burning of #FossilFuels drives up the #planet’s #temperature. #NOAA documented the first global #coral bleaching event in 1998 & the second in 2010. During the previous global event, between 2014 and 2017, 68% of the world’s #CoralReefs experienced bleaching-level #heat stress.
“Bleaching becomes more severe if either the #heat stress episodes are more intense or if they last for a longer time,” Joerg Wiedenmann, a marine biologist who heads the #CoralReef Lab at the University of Southampton in England, said….
The #Earth’s rising #temperatures have caused bleaching events to occur more often & last longer, he said. The changing & mixing of #ocean currents can also influence regional water temperatures, he added, further increasing the risk of bleaching.
#ClimateCrisis
“The ongoing global #CoralBleaching event is the biggest to date,” #NOAA scientists said.
Bleaching occurs when #heat upends the #coral’s metabolism, causing it to turn white as it expels the symbiotic algae that provide it with nutrients & color. Bleaching doesn’t mean the coral has died, but prolonged bleaching — which scientists say is made more frequent & severe by rising #sea #temperatures — can kill it.
