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.