The Prague Post - Global coral bleaching event expanding to new countries: scientists

EUR -
AED 4.269858
AFN 80.389695
ALL 97.575354
AMD 446.887125
ANG 2.080805
AOA 1066.155881
ARS 1482.270607
AUD 1.77749
AWG 2.092781
AZN 1.969043
BAM 1.955306
BBD 2.349607
BDT 141.274317
BGN 1.956796
BHD 0.438489
BIF 3468.124018
BMD 1.162656
BND 1.493723
BOB 8.040969
BRL 6.488201
BSD 1.163706
BTN 100.181696
BWP 15.624054
BYN 3.808338
BYR 22788.064166
BZD 2.33751
CAD 1.596618
CDF 3355.426107
CHF 0.933298
CLF 0.029204
CLP 1120.676938
CNY 8.345489
CNH 8.349
COP 4675.918951
CRC 587.251671
CUC 1.162656
CUP 30.810393
CVE 110.237156
CZK 24.642464
DJF 207.017711
DKK 7.466231
DOP 70.282248
DZD 151.565717
EGP 57.459487
ERN 17.439845
ETB 161.69096
FJD 2.621676
FKP 0.86674
GBP 0.866975
GEL 3.1512
GGP 0.86674
GHS 12.131936
GIP 0.86674
GMD 83.128394
GNF 10097.449575
GTQ 8.934743
GYD 243.468504
HKD 9.124585
HNL 30.456307
HRK 7.535223
HTG 152.791408
HUF 399.058136
IDR 18984.143302
ILS 3.909926
IMP 0.86674
INR 100.161449
IQD 1524.414962
IRR 48962.365958
ISK 142.401981
JEP 0.86674
JMD 186.092996
JOD 0.824263
JPY 172.991051
KES 150.352024
KGS 101.6742
KHR 4663.822007
KMF 492.151837
KPW 1046.390713
KRW 1617.481043
KWD 0.355354
KYD 0.969755
KZT 620.363308
LAK 25095.661311
LBP 104268.063861
LKR 351.091321
LRD 233.321068
LSL 20.603896
LTL 3.433022
LVL 0.70328
LYD 6.329401
MAD 10.522742
MDL 19.795
MGA 5178.69196
MKD 61.544455
MMK 2441.242098
MNT 4169.117911
MOP 9.408024
MRU 46.291308
MUR 53.134905
MVR 17.974919
MWK 2017.890319
MXN 21.784576
MYR 4.936639
MZN 74.363938
NAD 20.603896
NGN 1779.991316
NIO 42.829182
NOK 11.842178
NPR 160.290514
NZD 1.950422
OMR 0.447147
PAB 1.163706
PEN 4.142254
PGK 4.818783
PHP 66.399534
PKR 331.423489
PLN 4.246227
PYG 9006.725072
QAR 4.231131
RON 5.074418
RSD 117.120418
RUB 91.406912
RWF 1681.575266
SAR 4.363132
SBD 9.648707
SCR 17.088084
SDG 698.172988
SEK 11.248915
SGD 1.493318
SHP 0.913665
SLE 26.627124
SLL 24380.326606
SOS 665.032026
SRD 43.260159
STD 24064.638741
STN 24.493813
SVC 10.182428
SYP 15116.689274
SZL 20.599797
THB 37.641015
TJS 11.200671
TMT 4.080924
TND 3.421036
TOP 2.723057
TRY 46.963445
TTD 7.900005
TWD 34.19337
TZS 3031.434317
UAH 48.599025
UGX 4169.94675
USD 1.162656
UYU 46.898154
UZS 14730.27941
VES 135.990147
VND 30415.089724
VUV 139.27412
WST 3.077437
XAF 655.79136
XAG 0.030458
XAU 0.000347
XCD 3.142137
XCG 2.09727
XDR 0.815594
XOF 655.79136
XPF 119.331742
YER 280.258475
ZAR 20.593492
ZMK 10465.304445
ZMW 26.794232
ZWL 374.374866
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

Global coral bleaching event expanding to new countries: scientists
Global coral bleaching event expanding to new countries: scientists / Photo: Joseph Prezioso - AFP/File

Global coral bleaching event expanding to new countries: scientists

The massive coral bleaching episode signaled by US authorities last month is expanding and deepening in reefs around the globe, scientists warned Thursday.

Text size:

Amid record ocean temperatures, coral bleaching has been recorded in 62 countries and territories since February 2023, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said -- an increase of nine from its warning in April.

"This event is still growing in size and impacts," Derek Manzello, coordinator for NOAA's Coral Reef Watch program, told a press briefing, adding: "This is not something that would be happening without climate change."

New coral damage since NOAA's April 15 warning was reported in India, Sri Lanka and the Chagos islands in the Indian Ocean, Manzello said.

Severe or prolonged heat stress leads to corals dying off, though there is a possibility for recovery if temperatures drop and other stressors such as overfishing and pollution are reduced.

The consequences of coral bleaching are far-reaching, affecting not only the health of oceans but also the livelihoods of people, food security and local economies.

The ongoing mass coral bleaching is the world's fourth on record, with three others occurring between 1998 to 2017.

Some 60.5 percent of the world's reefs have experienced bleach-level heat in the last 12 months, a record, according to NOAA.

The previous widespread global bleaching, which occurred from 2014 to 2017, retains the record for the greatest cumulative impact -- for now.

Bleaching could further occur at reefs across Asia and off Mexico, Belize, the Caribbean and Florida as oceans continue to heat over the summer, Manzello said.

So far, the Great Barrier Reef off Australia has been hit by bleaching, which is also affecting coral in Thailand.

- Record temperatures -

There is a 61 percent chance 2024 will end as the Earth's hottest year on record and a 100 percent chance it will be one of the top five warmest years, said Karin Gleason, monitoring section chief at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.

Last month, meanwhile, the world's oceans saw their hottest ever April temperatures, a record broken each month for the past 13 months.

"The heat stress accumulation has been most unprecedented and extreme in the Atlantic Ocean," Manzello said.

Understanding the consequences of coral bleaching can take time: in the Caribbean, for example, coral could survive the immediate heat stress only to die later from "disease outbreaks or aggregations of coral predators," Manzello added.

Last year was the hottest year on record, attributed to a gnarly mix of climate change and the El Nino weather pattern.

This year, as the cooling La Nina pattern takes effect between now and autumn, "my hope is that... we will start seeing that percentage of reef areas impacted start coming down," Manzello said.

C.Sramek--TPP