The world suffers a massive episode of bleaching corals due to record temperatures oceans, The US Oceanic and Atmospheric Observation Agency (NOAA) warned this Monday.
For the second time in ten years, coral reefs around the world are affected by a major bleaching phenomenon linked to rising water temperatures, and parts of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef are at risk of disappearing.
Bleaching is a reversible phenomenon, since affected corals can survive if temperatures drop and other stress factors, such as overfishing or pollution, are reduced.
“From February 2023 to April 2024, significant coral bleaching has been documented in both the northern and southern hemispheres of each of the major ocean basins,” said NOAA’s Derek Manzello.
This phenomenon has been confirmed in all tropical regions, especially 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 because it impacts food security and local economies.
The current bleaching episode is the fourth recorded by NOAA since 1985. Previous episodes were observed in 1998, 2010 and 2016.
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Source: Gestion
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