The race to save the only barrier reef in the U.S. hit a major setback this summer when a heat wave turned the waters off the Florida Keys into a Jacuzzi.
The Florida Reef Tract is used to weathering warm water during fall months, but unseasonably hot water arrived this summer, meaning those coral colonies had to endure months of extreme water temperatures. A buoy off Florida recorded 101-degree water temperatures this July. When corals are stressed by hot or cold water, they lose their color—a result of expelling algae that provides corals with most of their energy—and eventually die.
