The harmful bleaching of the world coral included 84% of the ocean reefs into the most intense event of this kind in the listed story, said the International Coral Reef initiative on Wednesday.
It is the fourth Global Bleaching event since 1998 and has now surpassed the bleach from 2014 to 2017 that reached two thirds of the reefs, the ICRI said a mix of more than 100 governments, non-governmental organizations and others. And it is not clear when the current crisis, which began in 2023 and will be held responsible for the warming of oceans, will end.
“We may never see the heat stress that leads to the bleaching bleaching under the threshold that triggers a global event,” said Mark Eakin, Executive Secretary at the International Coral Reef Society and Corallen Monitoring boss of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“We see something that changes the face of our planet and the ability of our oceans to maintain life and livelihood completely,” said Eakin.
Last year was the hottest year on earth, and a large part of it goes into the oceans. The average annual sea surface temperature of the oceans from the Poles was a record 20.87 degrees Celsius (69.57 degrees Fahrenheit).
This is fatal for corals that are of crucial importance for the production of seafood, tourism and the protection of the coast against erosion and storms. Coral reefs are sometimes referred to as the “rainforests of the sea” because they support a high level of biological diversity – about 25% of all types of sea are in, on and to find coral reefs.
Coral get their bright colors from the colorful algae that live in them and are a source of food for the corals. A longer warmth causes the algae to release toxic compounds and throw out the corals. A strong white skeleton remains and the weakened coral has an increased risk of death.
The blade event was so serious that the Coral Reef Watch program from NOAA had to take up its bleaching -alarm scale level in order to take into account the growing risk of a Korall death.
Efforts are made to save and restore corals. A Dutch laboratory has worked with coral fragments, including some of the Seychelles coast to spread them in a zoo in such a way that they are used one day to re -populate wild coral reefs if necessary. Other projects, including one in front of Florida, have worked to save corals that are at risk from high heat and make them healthy again before they were returned to the ocean.
However, scientists say that it is important to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that warm up the planet, such as carbon dioxide and methane.
“The best way to protect coral reefs is to take into account the basic cause of climate change. And that means reducing human emissions that mainly arise from burning fossil fuels. Everything else looks more like a pavement,” said Eakin.
“I think people really have to recognize what they do … Inactivity is the kiss of the death of coral reefs,” said Melanie McField, co-chair of the Caribbean steering committee for the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, a network of scientists, the reefs around the world.
The group’s update takes place when President Donald Trump aggressively moved in his second term in order to increase fossil fuels and to regain Clean Energy programs that are necessary for economic growth.
“We have a government that works very hard to destroy all of these ecosystems. Removing these protective measures will have devastating consequences,” said Eakin.
___
Associated Press’s climate and environmental protection receives financial support from several private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the standards of AP for working with philanthropias, a list of supporters and financed coverage areas at Ap.org.