Coral Bleaching Quotes

“Lets change climate change.”
― Karen May, Thelma the tiny sea turtle

“When corals are exposed to temperatures two or three degrees hotter than their evolved maximum of eighty-eight degrees Fahrenheit, along with increased levels of sunlight, it's lethal. The powerhouse algae that live in the corals' tissues, providing their color and food through photosynthesis, begin to pump out oxygen at levels toxic to their polyp hosts. The corals must expel their symbiotic life supports or die. Row upon row of stark white skeletons are the result.

These damaged corals are capable of regeneration if water temperatures return to noral and water quality remains good, but the frequency and intensity of bleaching outbreaks is now such that the percentage of reef loss from coral deaths will increase dramatically.”
― Iain McCalman, The Reef: A Passionate History: The Great Barrier Reef from Captain Cook to Climate Change