Abnormal ocean temperatures are about to trigger coral bleaching. This phenomenon could affect the entire Southern Hemisphere and prove to have a greater impact than in 2014/2017. The alarm comes from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“It looks like the entire southern hemisphere is likely to experience bleaching this year. We are literally sitting on the brink of the worst bleaching event in the history of the planet“, Derek Manzello, NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch coordinator, told Reuters.
During the last mass coral bleaching event, an average of 15% of coral reefs died and a much larger percentage was damaged. At that time, the water in the oceans was at a lower temperature than today. A determining factor that makes NOAA scientists speculate that what is about to happen will have a much worse impact.
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