Nearly 15% of Corals Lost to Rising Sea Temperatures
News Desk
Islamabad: An international team of scientists has delivered a stark warning about the health of the planet’s coral ecosystems, revealing that more than half of the world’s reefs have been affected by mass bleaching.
The study, published in Nature Communications, found that 51 percent of coral reefs experienced moderate to severe bleaching during the Third Global Coral Bleaching Event. Researchers also reported that nearly 15 percent of corals surveyed suffered mortality as a result of prolonged heat stress.
The findings are based on a comprehensive global analysis of more than 15,000 reef surveys conducted across 41 countries. The research combined satellite-based heat stress measurements with in-water and aerial observations to assess the scale and severity of the damage.
Scientists said the 2014–2017 bleaching event was previously the longest and most widespread on record. However, the current Fourth Global Coral Bleaching Event — now entering its third year — has surpassed earlier events in intensity, with higher levels of ocean heat stress recorded in many regions.
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The study indicates that the rate of ocean warming-induced damage to coral reefs is accelerating, raising concerns that continued global warming could cause lasting or even irreversible harm to these critical marine ecosystems.
In response to the severity of current conditions, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has introduced more extreme bleaching alert levels to better characterize the ongoing crisis.
Coral bleaching occurs when elevated sea temperatures cause corals to expel the symbiotic algae living within their tissues. This process turns corals white and deprives them of essential nutrients. If heat stress persists, bleached corals can die.
The Fourth Global Coral Bleaching Event has already impacted reefs in Florida, the Caribbean, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and across the Pacific, underscoring the global scale of the threat.
Scientists warn that without urgent action to curb climate change and reduce ocean warming, coral reefs — which support vast marine biodiversity and millions of livelihoods worldwide — could face widespread degradation.
