CORNELL UNIVERSITY MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICEOct. 8, 2015
Newswise — Global coral bleaching will likely cause killer infections
Scientists say a dramatic worldwide coral bleaching event is underway, causing the loss of more than 12,000 square kilometers of coral from Hawaii to the Indian Ocean. Drew Harvell, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and Associate Director of the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, says that the stress caused by bleaching might cause killing disease outbreaks.
Harvell has done groundbreaking coral research and is leading the international research team now examining climate change and sea star wasting disease.
Bio: http://ecologyandevolution.cornell.edu/people/faculty/drew-harvell.cfm
Harvell says: “The big question now is how much damage will still be caused by the bleaching itself and how much more is to come when the stressed corals pick up new infections. Killing disease outbreaks has followed all previous bleaching events.
“Bleaching does not always kill the coral, but diseases strip away the thin layer of living coral tissue, exposing the underlying coral skeleton.”
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