The Effects of coral bleaching

Coral bleaching is happening around the world. Corals make up less than one percent of the ocean floor and yet coral reefs are home to more than a quarter of marine species. The Marshall Islands are also facing hard conditions of coral bleaching. We've seen the effects of coral bleaching. It has become a threat to coral reefs. On average coral reefs bleach within six years which doesn’t give ecosystems enough time to recover. Coral reefs around the Marshall Islands are going on their own pace when it comes to bleaching. Some areas are still recovering while others are slowly dying.This year the marine science class visited a previous area that classes before used to study and review the outcome of the coral reefs. As we toured the area, we saw that not many corals were bleached. The bleaching was less than the year prior which indicates that most of the corals are already dead. Although there was less bleaching occurrence within the reef, the corals are at the brink of completely dying.