Berumen on global coral bleaching
2015 was characterized by warmer conditions around the globe that were quite stressful for coral reefs in many places like Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and the Red Sea. The effects on the corals can be observed by clear instances of bleaching.
The animal itself is a very thin layer of tissue spread across the skeleton. During a bleaching event, we can see through the clear tissue of the animal on top of the white skeleton. When the coral expels this algae, we no longer see the beautiful colors that are typically observed in healthy coral reefs.
“What we're really worried about is that we're starting to reach a point where these bleaching events and these stress events on the reefs are becoming more and more common and where there's big concern is, how quickly these systems can possibly recover,” said Michael Berumen., KAUST associate professor.
2015 was characterized by warmer conditions around the globe that were quite stressful for coral reefs in many places like Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and the Red Sea. The effects on the corals can be observed by clear instances of bleaching.
The animal itself is a very thin layer of tissue spread across the skeleton. During a bleaching event, we can see through the clear tissue of the animal on top of the white skeleton. When the coral expels this algae, we no longer see the beautiful colors that are typically observed in healthy coral reefs.
“What we're really worried about is that we're starting to reach a point where these bleaching events and these stress events on the reefs are becoming more and more common and where there's big concern is, how quickly these systems can possibly recover,” said Michael Berumen., KAUST associate professor.