Factoid/2020/07/20
From Beachapedia
< Beachapedia:Factoid | 2020 | 07
Climate Patterns Can Help Predict Coral Bleaching Events
- "A new study by the Marine Laboratory at the University of Guam may help researchers predict coral bleaching months earlier than current tools, and, for the first time, may help predict invasion events of coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish. ... Coral bleaching and the crown-of-thorns starfish represent the two biggest disturbances coral reefs face, while local stressors like pollution and overfishing represent the two biggest impediments to recovery following disturbances. Unlike other prediction tools, this study used the interaction of two major oceanographic modulators — El Niño and Pacific Decadal Oscillation, or PDO — to predict how “warm blobs” of seawater and excess nutrients move around the tropical Western Pacific to cause these two destructive events. Existing tools typically provide bleaching warnings two to three weeks in advance; however, this new tool extends the warning period to between three and five months." - Excerpt from University of Guam
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