Scientists have officially declared Earth's third ever-major coral bleaching event.
Temperatures have been breaking record highs this year, causing widespread coral bleaching across Hawaii, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) reported. Scientists have now confirmed that the harmful phenomenon is spreading into the Caribbean, and may persist through the New Year. Coral bleaching occurs when corals are exposed to stress brought on by factors such as warmer ocean temperatures. The stress causes coral to expel symbiotic algae from their tissue, leading to the characteristic bleached white color.
"The coral bleaching and disease, brought on by climate change and coupled with events like the current El Niño, are the largest and most pervasive threats to coral reefs around the world," said Mark Eakin, NOAA's Coral Reef Watch coordinator. "As a result, we are losing huge areas of coral across the U.S., as well as internationally. What really has us concerned is this event has been going on for more than a year and our preliminary model projections indicate it's likely to last well into 2016."
