LONDON: Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are warning that warm, acidic ocean waters prevalent throughout the Pacific and Indian Oceans have the potential to devastate the globe’s coral reef population. Such an event, known as coral bleaching, could be disastrous to the oceanic ecosystem; while coral reefs comprise a small portion of marine species, their elaborate ecosystems house more than a quarter of all underwater life.
“In the coming months, we will be watching to see if the model predicts conditions that can cause bleaching in Southeast Asia and the Coral Triangle region around mid-2015,” said Mark Eakin, NOAA Coral Reef Watch coordinator.
