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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Oliver Milman

Florida’s coral at severe risk of bleaching after ‘unprecedented’ heat stress

For mass coral bleaching in North America story. Coral bleaching on a reef known as Cheeca Rocks, Florida Keys. USA
Scientists estimate that around 70% of Florida’s reefs are losing material, with this erosion hastened by bleaching, which occurs during periods of spiking heat. Photograph: NOAA

Florida’s ailing coral reef system is at the risk of a devastating bleaching outbreak after being engulfed in an “unprecedented” heat stress event that stretches throughout the waters of the Caribbean and Central America, US government scientists have warned.

South-east Florida’s corals are now at the highest alert level for bleaching for the first time ever, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), with “significant mortality likely” for its corals amid abnormally hot ocean temperatures.

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