What really causes Coral Bleaching (News Article)

[ihavecrabs]

Thought you all might find this reading interesting especially considering the discussion around nitrogen and phosphorus changes over time.

https://phys.org/news/2019-07-years-unique-reveal-coral-reefs.html

 

[rkpetersen]

Saw that earlier today. Not at all surprising, but nice to see it documented.
Many of us have experienced this exact phenomenon in our tanks.

However, increased water temp definitely also causes bleaching, this has been obvious for decades.
As a personal anecdote, we went to the Maldives for scuba diving back in the 90s.
Unfortunately we got there about 6 months after a very severe El Nino. (Had booked a year in advance.)
Nothing but bleached and dead coral everywhere.
Certainly wasn't due to terrestrial runoff in that case. As remote from civilization as can be.
Really disappointing trip.