The Return of the 'Blob': Hawaii's Reefs Threatened by Marine Heat Wave.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/21/climate/hawaii-coral-bleaching.html
Source: By Kendra Pierre-Louis, The New York Times.
Excerpt: Parts of the Pacific Ocean are simmering, threatening coral reefs and livelihoods around Hawaii, and causing many to worry of worse to come. ... fish provided by the reefs, reefs which are now becoming sick in the warming waters. ...Researchers said the heat wave was reminiscent of 2014, when a hot spot that became known as the blob began forming in the Pacific. It expanded and lingered over much of the Pacific Coast from Mexico to Alaska for years. ...“The event in ’14-15 was maybe eight to 10 times the size of Alaska. And the current event we’re having is nearly that big,” Dr. Leising said. ...Researchers say they think that climate change strongly influenced the original blob’s creation. The blob also led to the first known mass bleaching event in Hawaii, in which coral reefs stressed by the extreme temperatures shed the symbiotic plant that both gives them their flamboyant coloration and provides them with oxygen. “Parts of Hawaii saw about 50 percent coral loss for the 2015 event,” Jamison Gove, a research oceanographer with NOAA, said by email. “It was particularly devastating in areas off Hawaii Island and Maui.” Reef watchers said they were worried about a repeat....
Source: By Kendra Pierre-Louis, The New York Times.
Excerpt: Parts of the Pacific Ocean are simmering, threatening coral reefs and livelihoods around Hawaii, and causing many to worry of worse to come. ... fish provided by the reefs, reefs which are now becoming sick in the warming waters. ...Researchers said the heat wave was reminiscent of 2014, when a hot spot that became known as the blob began forming in the Pacific. It expanded and lingered over much of the Pacific Coast from Mexico to Alaska for years. ...“The event in ’14-15 was maybe eight to 10 times the size of Alaska. And the current event we’re having is nearly that big,” Dr. Leising said. ...Researchers say they think that climate change strongly influenced the original blob’s creation. The blob also led to the first known mass bleaching event in Hawaii, in which coral reefs stressed by the extreme temperatures shed the symbiotic plant that both gives them their flamboyant coloration and provides them with oxygen. “Parts of Hawaii saw about 50 percent coral loss for the 2015 event,” Jamison Gove, a research oceanographer with NOAA, said by email. “It was particularly devastating in areas off Hawaii Island and Maui.” Reef watchers said they were worried about a repeat....