|Bleaching Area Alert |
on the US NOAA Satellite and Information Service
01 April 2014
High ocean temperatures off the West Australian coast are “unprecedented since at least 1795” and pose a significant threat to the state’s coral reefs, scientists say.
“Ocean temperatures have warmed so much and sea levels have risen so much over the last 150 years that every natural event is amplified,” Zinke said. “So any future heatwave is probably going to be more extreme. We’ve crossed this line where coral bleaching can now occur on a large scale.”