Warmer seas linked to white syndrome – a coral disease

Warmer sea temperatures are linked to the severity of a coral disease, a dire warning about global warming's potential impact on the world's troubled reefs as reported by a new study.

Researchers have suspected for long times till date that warm sea temperatures were responsible for disease outbreaks on coral reefs. This recent study was the first to conclusively connect the two.

This recent study has concluded that the effect of temperature was "highly dependent" on the density of the coral cover. Outbreaks of white syndrome followed unusually warm temperature on reefs with greater than 50 percent coral cover.