Nearly 40% of coral reefs worldwide to lose color after 2015

 

Coral reefs around the world are facing the threat of the third massive bleaching event ever on record due to the warming effects of El Ni?o and the impacts of climate change. The bleaching event, which began in the north Pacific during the summer of 2014 and expanded to the south Pacific and Indian oceans in 2015, is likely to last well into 2016. About 38 percent of the world's coral reefs are expected to be bleached by the end of this year and over 12,000 sq km of them might be destroyed. Corals can recover from mild bleaching, however, severe or long-term bleaching is often lethal. Coral death provides less shoreline protection from storms and fewer habitats for fish and other marine life. Locally produced threats to coral, such as pollution from the land and unsustainable fishing practices, are stresses on coral health and decrease the likelihood that corals can either resist bleaching or recover from it.