Most coral reef areas experienced bleaching in past year: Research

Coral reefs around the world experienced massive bleaching last year as ocean temperatures continue to rise, according to a new study.

Large-scale bleaching has been reported on coral reefs in at least 53 countries and territories in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres since early 2023, according to researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI). stated in a statement Monday.

coral bleaching It occurs when corals become stressed by changes in conditions such as temperature, light, and nutrients and expel the algae that live within their tissues. This turns the coral completely white.

The researchers said the affected reefs include those in Florida, the Caribbean, parts of the eastern tropical Pacific such as Costa Rica and Panama, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, parts of the South Pacific, the Persian Gulf, and the Gulf of Aden. It is said to be included.

This is the second bleaching event in the past 10 years, with the previous bleaching event ending in May 2017. This was caused by the El Niño climate pattern, which has warmed the world’s oceans for three years, the Associated Press reported.

The researchers noted that bleaching would need to be confirmed in each major ocean basin before this could be declared a global bleaching event. This basin includes the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans in the northern and southern hemispheres.

“As the world’s oceans continue to warm, coral bleaching events are becoming more frequent and severe,” NOAA Coral Reef Monitoring Coordinator Derek Manzello said in a statement. “When these events are severe or prolonged, they can cause coral mortality and negatively impact the goods and services that coral reefs provide for people to make a living.”

Coral reefs are important ecosystems for underwater life and help protect biodiversity and slow erosion. In some places, they are also tourist attractions, supporting local economies and food security.

While the researchers noted that coral bleaching does not necessarily precede reef death, they warned of the continuing impacts of climate change on ecosystems. Climate change is causing ocean warming, which can cause coral bleaching.

“Climate model projections for coral reefs have long suggested that the effects of bleaching will increase in frequency and magnitude as the oceans warm,” said Jennifer Koss, director of NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP).

2023 was the warmest year on record, with land and ocean temperatures last year averaging 2.12 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th century average, NOAA researchers announced earlier this year.