84% of the world’s coral reefs hit by worst bleaching event on record

By ISABELLA O MALLEY Harmful bleaching of the world s coral has grown to include of the ocean s reefs in the majority intense event of its kind in recorded history the International Coral Reef Initiative publicized Wednesday It s the fourth global bleaching event since and has now surpassed bleaching from - that hit specific two-thirds of reefs stated the ICRI a mix of more than governments non-governmental organizations and others And it s not clear when the current problem which began in and is blamed on warming oceans will end We may never see the heat stress that causes bleaching dropping below the threshold that triggers a global event mentioned Mark Eakin executive secretary for the International Coral Reef Society and retired coral monitoring chief for the U S National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration We re looking at something that s perfectly changing the face of our planet and the ability of our oceans to sustain lives and livelihoods Eakin commented FILE Bleaching is visible on coral reef off the coast of Nha Trang Vietnam Oct AP Photo Yannick Peterhans File Last year was Earth s hottest year on record and much of that is going into oceans The average annual sea surface temperature of oceans away from the poles was a record degrees Celsius degrees Fahrenheit That s deadly to corals which are key to seafood production tourism and protecting coastlines from erosion and storms Coral reefs are sometimes dubbed rainforests of the sea because they endorsement high levels of biodiversity approximately of all marine species can be revealed in on and around coral reefs Coral get their bright colors from the colorful algae that live inside them and are a food source for the corals Prolonged warmth causes the algae to release toxic compounds and the coral eject them A stark white skeleton is left behind and the weakened coral is at heightened vulnerability of dying The bleaching event has been so severe that NOAA s Coral Reef Watch undertaking has had to add levels to its bleaching alert scale to account for the growing exposure of coral death Related Articles Book Review Hope Dies Last visits visionaries fighting global warming Mississippi River deemed majority of endangered river in U S conservation group says Your clothes are shedding bits of plastic Here s what people are doing about it this Earth Day years after Deepwater Horizon oil spill lawsuits stall and restoration is incomplete Proposed NOAA cuts put Great Lakes research safety at threat experts say Efforts are underway to conserve and restore coral One Dutch lab has worked with coral fragments including certain taken from off the coast of the Seychelles to propagate them in a zoo so that they might be used someday to repopulate wild coral reefs if needed Other projects including one off Florida have worked to rescue corals endangered by high heat and nurse them back to robustness before returning them to the ocean But scientists say it s essential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that warm the planet such as carbon dioxide and methane The best way to protect coral reefs is to address the root cause of environment change And that means reducing the human emissions that are mostly from burning of fossil fuels everything else is looking more like a Band-Aid rather than a remedy Eakin reported I think people really need to recognize what they re doing inaction is the kiss of death for coral reefs mentioned Melanie McField co-chair of the Caribbean Steering Committee for the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Arrangement a configuration of scientists that monitors reefs throughout the world The group s update comes as President Donald Trump has moved aggressively in his second term to boost fossil fuels and roll back clean vitality programs which he says is necessary for economic progress We ve got a regime right now that is working very hard to destroy all of these ecosystems removing these protections is going to have devastating consequences Eakin declared The Associated Press state and environmental coverage receives financial help from multiple private foundations AP is solely responsible for all content Find AP s standards for working with philanthropies a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP org