Ocean Warming Slows Coral Growth in the Central Red Sea

Abstract

Red Sea Coral Decline: Large, rapid sea surface temperature rises of 1°C or greater typically cause bleaching of corals. Cantin et al. (p. 322 ) show that smaller temperature increases also have detrimental effects on corals, dramatically reducing their rates of calcification and skeletal extension. Corals in the Red Sea, where water temperatures have risen by 0.4 to 1°C since the mid-1970s, have declined in skeletal extension by about 30%, and decreased in calcification rates by around 18% since 1998. This finding suggests that we may see an end to coral growth in the Red Sea this century.