Context: Recently, along coastlines stretching from Australia to Kenya to Mexico, numerous colorful coral reefs worldwide have recently turned ghostly white, marking what scientists describe as the fourth global bleaching event in the past three decades.
oIt has triggered the fourth global mass coral bleaching event, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Coral Bleaching
Mass Coral Bleaching
oResulted in the death of 8% of the world’s coral.
oSignaled a shift towards more closely spaced bleaching events.
oThe global temperature in 2017 reached the third-highest recorded level.