High temperatures kill coral reef

High temperatures kill coral reef

BANGKOK (Reuters): Rising sea temperatures off the east coast
of Thailand could destroy some of the country's most precious
underwater coral, a leading Thai scientist said yesterday.

Suraphol Sudara, head of the marine science department at
Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, said coral in the Gulf of
Thailand had been bleached as the algae which gives the coral its
color had been forced out by rising sea temperatures.

The professor said researchers discovered in April that the
temperature of the sea water in the gulf had risen to between 31
and 32 degrees Celsius from the usual temperature of 28 or 29
degrees Celsius.

"Some species of coral, I am pretty sure, will die," Suraphol
told Reuters. "Some species can recover, but not all." Suraphol
said the change was too dramatic to be explained by either global
warming or the El Nio weather phenomenon.