Important assets to local and national economies, they produce fisheries for food, materials for new medicines, and income from tourism and recreation, as well as protect coastal communities from storms. With 1998 named the Year of the Ocean , it is appropriate that we focus our attention on these extremely important and fragile coral reef ecosystems.
Corals thrive as long as temperatures remain at or below certain temperatures for a given site.
An increase of one or two degrees above the usual maximum temperatures can be deadly to these animals. The temperature range for corals to thrive varies from site to site by only a few degrees. While many corals normally recover from short bleaching events, long-term or frequent bleaching may severely weaken the corals leaving them more vulnerable to disease, damage or death. Approximately 50 countries have reported coral bleaching since 1997. Using satellites to measure sea surface temperatures and identify hot spots, NOAA has been able to predict coral reef bleaching events in real time over large ocean areas since 1997, reports NOAA oceanographer Al Strong .