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World Atlas of Coral Reefs


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Slide 9 of 15

Notes:

  • In 1998 one of the largest El Niño events ever recorded took place.
  • Different El Nino events have different impacts over space and time, but this particular event produced a massive sweep of warm water which lay across the Indian Ocean
  • This map shows a single image of sea surface temperature anomalies (March 24, 1998) showing the early stages of the pulse of warm water. Yellow areas are greater thean 1°C above the normal maxima.
  • Temperatures of only 1-2°C above the normal maximum for just a few days are sufficient to force corals to bleach. Continued high temperatures for 3 weeks or more can lead to mass mortalities.

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