Climate Change Coral Bleaching and the Future of the World's Coral Reefs

Abstract

Sea temperatures in the tropics have increased by almost 1oC over the past 100 years and are currently increasing at the rate of approximately 1-2oC per century. Reefbuilding corals, which are central to healthy coral reefs, are currently living close to their upper thermal limit. They become stressed if exposed to small slight increases (1-2oC) in water temperature and experience coral bleaching.