After 18 Months Of Marine Heatwaves, 73% Of Planet's Coral Reefs Have (At Minimum) Started To Bleach
After 18 months of record-breaking ocean temperatures, the planet’s reefs are in the middle of the most widespread heat-stress event on record. Across the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans, latest figures from the US government’s Coral Reef Watch, shared with the Guardian, show 73% of the world’s corals have been hit with enough heat for them to begin bleaching.
Beginning in February 2023, this is the fourth global mass bleaching event – the second in 10 years, and the most widespread on record. After seeing their beloved reefs struggling to survive, some coral scientists are calling for a major rethink on how to protect reefs as temperatures climb even higher in the coming decades.
“We’re coming out of a couple of decades where we made predictions,” said Prof Tracy Ainsworth, the vice-president of the International Coral Reef Society. “Now we are at a point where we hoped we would not be. Now we’re asking, what do we do now?” In the scientific journal Nature Climate Change, three articles were published on Monday calling on the coral conservation and science community to have a collective rethink.
“I would call it soul searching,” said Prof Tiffany Morrison, a co-author of one of the articles which is sharply critical of widespread programs, many with corporate backers, to grow corals in nurseries and then plant them out on reefs. “When everyone realised the scale of the climate impacts on coral reefs, the first instinct was to just do something and intervene because people were so distressed.” In Florida and the Caribbean last year, many replanted corals died as record-breaking heat stress swept across the region.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/30/as-record-heat-risks-bleaching-73-of-the-worlds-coral-reefs-scientists-ask-what-do-we-do-now
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