🌅 The Most Intense Coral Bleaching Event Ever Recorded

SOURCE

NOAA

WHAT TO KNOW

• The world is currently experiencing its fourth global coral bleaching event, impacting 84% of all coral reefs and triggering mass bleaching in at least 83 countries and territories. Scientists described the bleaching event as “unprecedented” as early as May 2024, and now say it’s the most intense bleaching event ever recorded.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The world’s first global bleaching event occurred in 1998, when 21% of all reefs experienced bleaching. That figure rose to 37% during the world’s second event in 2010, then to 68% during the third event from 2014 to 2017. The ongoing bleaching during the fourth event has been so intense that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Coral Reef Watch—a widely used bleaching prediction platform—had to add three new levels to their Bleaching Alert Scale to indicate the heightened risk of mass coral mortality.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• Scientists say about one-third of all known marine life relies on coral reefs, as do around one billion people and roughly $10 trillion in economic benefits. Unfortunately, the world has lost around half of its live coral cover since the 1950s, with some evidence suggesting a decline of 14% in the decade from 2009 to 2018 alone.