Deadly coral disease is spreading as global temperatures warm, and it’s likely to become endemic to reefs the world over by the next century, according to new research.
Deadly coral disease is spreading as global temperatures warm, and it’s likely to become endemic to reefs the world over by the next century, according to new research.
The study, published today in Ecology Letters, shows the extent coral health will suffer from climate change, which threatens to wipe out entire reef habitats and devastate coastal communities.
For the meta-analysis, researchers from UNSW Sydney analysed 108 studies of coral health where coral reefs were surveyed for disease symptoms. They then linked the disease surveys to ocean sea surface temperature records to understand how climate change – specifically ocean warming – has influenced coral disease prevalence worldwide and performed modelling to forecast disease under future warming scenarios.
Read more at: University of New South Wales
Warming ocean temperatures are linked to an increase in coral disease prevalence. (Photo Credit: Man Lim Ho)
