Grief on the reef

摘要

An epidemic of coral bleaching hitting Australia's Great Barrier Reef has sparked fears that much of the world largest coral reef may be dying. Bleaching is also reported to be spreading through the coral islands of the South Pacific. Coral bleaching occurs when high sea temperatures force the algae that give coral its colour out of the coral polyps. Bleached coral may recover in the next cool season, but if all the algae are lost the coral will die and reefs will crumble.