Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2018 12:07:57 -0500
From: Mark Eakin – NOAA Federal <mark.eakin@noaa.gov>
Subject: [Coral-List] New paper on coral bleaching in Science
To: Coral Listserver <coral-list@coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
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<CAJtna2UgRQ8+ukk52HWEj755h6VZfpiy5DprE-c9UiESW3Js9Q@mail.gmail.com>
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For the first time, an international team of researchers has measured the
escalating rate of coral bleaching at locations throughout the tropics over
the past four decades. The study documents a dramatic shortening of the gap
between pairs of bleaching events, threatening the future existence of
these iconic ecosystems and the livelihoods of many millions of people.

“The time between bleaching events at each location has diminished
five-fold in the past 3-4 decades, from once every 25-30 years in the early
1980s to an average of just once every six years since 2010,” says lead author
Prof Terry Hughes, Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef
Studies (Coral CoE).

?Reefs have entered a distinctive human-dominated era ? the Anthropocene,?
said co-author, Dr C. Mark Eakin of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric
Administration, USA. “The climate has warmed rapidly in the past 50 years,
first making El Nin?os dangerous for corals, and now we’re seeing the
emergence of bleaching in every hot summer.”
For more, see the full paper at:
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6371/80

Cheers,
Mark
——————————————————————
C. Mark Eakin, Ph.D.
Coordinator, NOAA Coral Reef Watch
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Center for Satellite Applications and Research
Satellite Oceanography & Climate Division
e-mail: mark.eakin@noaa.gov
url: coralreefwatch.noaa.gov
Twitter: @CoralReefWatch FB: Coral Reef Watch

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