Bleached corals

 
Published: Sunday 15 July 2001

Recent studies suggest that fears of global warming killing the world's coral reefs may be misplaced. Reef-building corals contain pigmented algae that provide the food for corals in return for shelter. The corals terminate the partnership when there are slight changes in light or temperature. Andrew Baker of the New York Aquarium studied the effects of bleaching on corals in the San Blas Islands, Panama's Caribbean coast. The results of his study showed that bleached corals which took on better-adapted algae in shallow warmer water, survived in the long term while those that kept their original algae died a year later ( New Scientist , June 13, 2001).

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