Coral reefs have been called the rain forests of the ocean because of their vast biodiversity and genetic wealth. And over the last few years we have seen a massive die-off of these ecosystems, with a quarter of the world’s reefs already gone. Surveying the destruction, the marine biology community has launched an all-out effort to restore the reefs to health. But first biologists must understand the sources of destruction, from global warming to overfishing and attacks by predators and diseases.
The man-made part of the disaster, caused by burning fossil fuels, has increased ocean temperature an average of 1.33 degrees Fahrenheit since the start of the Industrial Revolution, according to a study in Science. That slight warming is enough to kill some microalgae needed to help the reefs calcify and stay strong. What’s more, the study, led by a team at the University of Queensland in Australia, says that ...
