Corals Die as Global Warming Collides with Local Weather in the South China Sea

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Photograph: © SAF – Coastal Care

Excerpts;

In the South China Sea, a 2°C rise in the sea surface temperature in June 2015 was amplified to produce a 6°C rise on Dongsha Atoll, a shallow coral reef ecosystem, killing approximately 40 percent of the resident coral community according to a study published in Scientific Reports this week.

Wind and waves churn the sea, flushing shallow-water coral reefs with seawater from the open ocean to help them stay cool. But according to new research from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), when the weather turns still and these natural cooling mechanisms subside, just a few degrees of ocean warming can prove lethal to the corals that live there…

Read Full Article, WHOI (03-23-2017)

Dead zones may threaten coral reefs worldwide, Science Daily (03-21-2017)

War on global warming only way to save world’s coral, study says; CBS News (03-15-2017)

Video Captures the Violent Act of Coral Bleaching, LiveScience (08-17-2016)

Scientists: Major Coral Bleaching Crisis Spreads Worldwide, AP / US News & World Report (10-08-2015)
The bleaching of colorful coral is spreading into a worldwide, devastating crisis, scientists say, and they predict it will likely get worse…

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