Coral Die-Off
A massive die-off of coral during the past two years has been triggered by a combination of global warming and one of the strongest El Niños on record, scientists say. The ongoing worldwide coral bleaching was first observed in mid-2014. Oceanographer Mark Eakin of the U.S. agency NOAA found that the bleaching has now lasted for 20 consecutive months, leading him and others to believe it could persist into 2017. Eakin says this could mean corals in some parts of the world will have no time to recover before they are hit by another bleaching event. The world has experienced two global coral die-offs during the past 20 years, starting with the 1997-98 record El Niño, and again during the 2010 ocean warming.
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