AI Insight
Scientists are warning that the anticipated arrival of a potentially strong El Nino weather system in 2023 poses a severe threat to coral reefs worldwide. Coral ecosystems already stressed by consecutive bleaching events in recent years may lack sufficient time to recover before facing additional thermal stress driven by El Nino-induced ocean warming. Mass bleaching occurs when elevated sea temperatures cause corals to expel their symbiotic algae, leading to widespread coral mortality if conditions persist.
Why it matters
Coral reefs support approximately 25 percent of all marine species and provide food security, coastal protection, and economic livelihoods for hundreds of millions of people globally. Repeated bleaching events with insufficient recovery windows threaten the long-term viability of these ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.
The arrival of a potentially powerful El Niño weather system this year could devastate coral reefs around the world already weakened by back-to-back rounds of bleaching, scientists warn.
Source: 'Dread': Coral scientists fear bleaching El Nino could bring