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More Bleaching
Undercurrent,  June 5, 2002

A coral bleaching epidemic has hit the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, for the second time in four years is spreading through the coral islands of the South Pacific. Usually, bleached coral recovers in the next cool season, but if all the algae are lost, the coral will die and reefs will crumble. Thomas Goreau, president of the Global Coral Reef Alliance in Cambridge, MA, says "The bleaching follows record sea temperatures since the beginning of the year. . . .Almost all the Great Barrier Reef was
2 degrees C or more above normal for more than two months from early January to mid-March . . . .This was hotter and longer than the bleaching that wiped out the Maldives, Seychelles and western Australian reefs in 1998." While the onset of a new El Niņo is a contributor, Goreau says global warming is a key underlying factor. NewScientist, April 12
 

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