Global Warming

Global Warming Fuels Coral Killer

Global warming worsens a disease that has almost wiped out Caribbean coral reefs, according to a new study by researchers at the Florida Institute of Technology.

In only 40 years, the iconic elkhorn and staghorn corals that have dominated Caribbean reefs for 3.5 million years have declined by more than 90 percent. The main culprit: a disease that causes dead, white bands across the coral. And ocean warming is playing a bigger role in the so-called "white-band" disease than previously thought, the researchers found.

Both elkhorn and staghorn coral are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. They are especially of concern because they form the foundations of reefs that support economically important fish and other marine species.

White-band disease has already devastated Florida corals, especially in the Florida Keys.

The Florida Tech researchers compared sea temperature data with white-band disease records from 473 coral sites in the Caribbean and the Keys.

They found white-band disease is more common where waters have warmed most rapidly and stayed unusually warm during winter.

It seems that warmer waters may be making marine microbes more infectious and/or weakening the coral's innate immunity.