Coral bleaching is a stress-induced biological process in which reef-building scleractinian corals lose all or most of their endosymbiotic dinoflagellates (family Symbiodiniaceae) and/or their photosynthetic pigments, leading to visible paling or whitening of coral tissues. Triggered primarily by elevated sea surface temperatures, but also by light stress, pollution, or oxidative stress, bleaching involves disruption of the coral–algal symbiosis through mechanisms such as reactive oxygen species overproduction, damage to photosystem II, and activation of host cellular stress pathways that drive symbiont expulsion or degradation. Prolonged or repeated bleaching events impair coral metabolism, calcification, and reproduction, often increasing mortality and restructuring reef ecosystems.
Corals living in coastal bays with strongly fluctuating temperatures and environmental conditions are better able to withstand heat and other stressors than their counterparts on more stable reefs. This is shown by research ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 18, 2026
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As ocean temperatures rise due to climate change, corals and other sensitive organisms survive where temperatures are less extreme. But a new study from researchers at Florida Tech, published this month in the journal Communications ...
Environment
Feb 12, 2026
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Benefits to society from coral reefs, including fisheries, tourism, coastal protection, pharmaceutical discovery and more, are estimated at about $9.8 trillion per year. For the first time, an international team led by Smithsonian ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 10, 2026
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Oceanic ecosystems are increasingly threatened by global warming, which causes coral bleaching, species migration and, through the loss of habitats and biodiversity, food web disruptions on major scales. Also, pollutants ...
Ecology
Feb 5, 2026
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Scientists have created an AI model that forecasts moderate heat stress—a major precursor to coral bleaching—at sites along Florida's Coral Reef up to six weeks ahead, with predictions generally accurate within one week. ...
Ecology
Feb 2, 2026
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After a devastating marine heat wave hit the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas in 2023, the populations of two essential reef-building corals are now too low to fulfill their ecological roles. However, coral researchers are not ...
Ecology
Feb 2, 2026
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Rising ocean temperatures have been implicated in mass coral bleaching events affecting the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). These events have been increasingly frequent, with major events occurring in 2016, 2017, 2020, 2022, 2024, ...
Air pollution is now recognized as one of the greatest threats to human health, contributing to an estimated 4.2 million premature deaths in 2019, according to the World Health Organization.
Environment
Jan 24, 2026
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New research by Monash University and the ARC Center of Excellence for the Weather of the 21st Century analyzed close to three decades of weather data during the coral bleaching season and identified the prevalence of "doldrum ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 19, 2026
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Once a picturesque garden beneath the sea, some stretches of the Florida Coral Reef have now become graveyards. Unburied coral skeletons stand as haunting remnants of the catastrophic marine heat wave that swept through in ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 13, 2026
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