Natural Phenomena
Coral Bleaching
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Coral bleaching occurs when heat or other stress causes coral to expel the symbiotic algae living in its tissues, turning the coral white. A bleached coral is not dead: it can recover if the stress is brief, but prolonged loss of its algae leaves it starved and more vulnerable to disease, and eventually to death, and rising ocean temperature from climate change is the leading cause.
Facts
ScaleIndividual coral polyps and colonies, scaling up to entire reef systems during mass bleaching events 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Demonstrated By
Elkhorn coral's critically-endangered status is tied in part to repeated bleaching from warming Caribbean waters.
The Great Barrier Reef has suffered repeated mass bleaching events during marine heatwaves.
Sources
Open Questions (1 open question)
How fully can a coral reef recover from a severe bleaching event if ocean warming continues?
Bleached coral can survive and recover if the stress is brief, but scientists are still working out how repeated, prolonged heat stress under continued warming affects a reef's long-term capacity to bounce back.
What would resolve this Long-term monitoring of reef recovery trajectories across repeated bleaching events under different warming scenarios, tied to disease-susceptibility research.
Marine biology and coral reef ecologyCoral Bleaching (NOAA Ocean Service)
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