what is coral bleaching
ByCan coral survive a bleaching event? If the stress caused bleaching is not severe coral have been known to recover. If the algae loss is prolonged and the stress continues, coral eventually dies.
When water is too warm, corals will expel the algae. living in their tissues causing the coral to turn completely white. This is called coral bleaching. When a coral bleaches, it is not dead. Corals can survive a bleaching event, but they are under more stress and are subject to death.
Not all bleaching events are due to warm water.
Cold water temperatures in the Florida Keys caused a coral bleaching event that resulted in some coral death. Water temperatures dropped 12.06 degrees Fahrenheit lower than the typical temperatures observed at this time of year. Researchers will evaluate if this cold-stress event will make corals more susceptible to disease in the same way that warmer waters impact corals.
The effects of mass coral death due to coral bleaching has a wide range of negative long and short term impact. The death of coral through bleaching majorly impacts the environment, the animals within it, and human-kind.