The world is currently experiencing a massive episode of coral bleaching due to record ocean temperatures, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned on Monday.
For the second time in ten years, coral reefs around the world are being hit by significant bleaching linked to rising water temperatures, with parts of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef at risk. to disappear.
All is not lost though
Bleaching, while it can lead to the death of corals, is a reversible dieback phenomenon, with affected corals able to survive if temperatures drop and other stress factors, such as overfishing or pollution, are reduced.
“From February 2023 to April 2024, significant coral bleaching was observed in the northern and southern hemispheres of every major ocean basin,” said Derek Manzello of NOAA. This phenomenon has been confirmed in all tropical regions, notably in Florida (southern United States), the Caribbean, Brazil and the eastern tropical Pacific.
The consequences of this phenomenon are multiple. Bleaching affects ocean ecosystems, but also human populations, impacting their food security and local economies. The current bleaching episode is the fourth recorded by NOAA since 1985. The previous ones were observed in 1998, 2010 and 2016.
