Global Coral Bleaching Increases, Will Hit The US Coasts Hard

The NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program stated that many coral reefs around the world will be exposed to more bleaching with no signs of stopping. The U.S. coasts particularly Guam, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Florida Keys and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands will be hit hard.

The reefs in the 100 miles off the coast of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico and Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary will also be affected. According to NOAA Coral Reef Watch, there is about 90 percent chance of prevalent coral bleaching in the Pacific island nations of Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia during the La Nina. This causes high ocean temperatures in the western Pacific,according to Science Daily.

Jennifer Koss, NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program director stated that it's time to shift this conversation to what can be done to conserve these amazing organisms in the face of this unprecedented global bleaching event. She further said that they have boots on the ground and fins in the water to reduce local stressors. She added that they need to better understand what actions they can all take to combat the effects of climate change globally.

The third global coral bleaching started in mid-2014 and continues up to the present. This is due to the effect of global warming and intense El Nino. The U.S. coral reefs have seen above normal temperatures and over 70 percent of them have been exposed to the prolonged high temperatures that cause bleaching.

About 93 percent of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia was bleached as of this April. Its coral bleaching would result in the loss of $1 billion in tourism income. There is about 22 percent of its coral, particularly in the northern sections that have died.

Coral bleaching is the loss of algal pigmentation. In its bleaching, the corals expel their zooxanthellae, which give coral its coloration. With this, it leads to a lighter or completely white appearance. The causes of the coral bleaching involve the change in temperature in the water, regional weather conditions, exposure to cold winds and the increase in solar radiation.