Coral bleaching happens naturally, but scientists say that it is happening on a massive scale that threatens a huge number of fragile coral reefs.
Scientists say global warming is to blame for the worst-ever bleaching of coral near the Marshall Islands and reefs across the northern Pacific.
An El Nino weather pattern had been developing in recent months, which raised ocean temperatures and stressed coral reefs — a bleaching event that has been happening since September, according to an Agence France-Presse report.
The problem is widespread in the northern Pacific, stretch from Guam to the Northern Marianas Islands to Hawaii to the Marshall Islands, according to researchers.
Coral bleaching happens when photosynthesising algae that the reefs feed on disappears, causing the coral to die. It happens naturally, but this is the worst case scientists say they’ve ever seen.
Typically, bleaching happens on very hot days in pools of water with low circulation, such as low tides on reef flats. However, greenhouse gas emissions are causing temperatures to rise and make it a global problem, researchers say.
Karl Fellenius, a Majuro-based marine scientist with the University of Hawaii, said sea surface temperatures have been nearly a full degree Celsius higher than normal for months, which he said may not seem like a lot but can have a tremendous impact on coral reefs.
The last big bleaching event happened in 1997, Fellenius said, due to a strong El Nino system that impact a quarter of the coral reefs on the planet.
This most recent incident affects about 75 percent of smaller corals and 25 percent of larger ones, he estimated. And the coral may not recover as it is becoming covered with algae.
The World Meteorological Organization stated during UN climate talks in Lima, Peru, that 2014 was the warmest year on record, blaming it on man-made climate change.
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