Scientists say a combination of weather patterns is raising the risk of coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef this summer, with the current El Niño adding to concerns, SBS News reports. A new study from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Weather of the 21st Century looked at how distant atmospheric systems feed into so-called doldrums, spells of calm winds, little cloud and dry air that stop the ocean cooling naturally.
Researchers say that when doldrums linger over the reef, water temperatures stay high and can build into a marine heatwave, the main trigger for bleaching. A senior scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science said global warming was already pushing up peak summer temperatures, and that in the past decade bleaching on the reef had occurred even without an El Niño.
Source: SBS News
