A VIRUS could be to blame for the bleaching of coral reefs around the world,
explaining why some are more susceptible than others to rising sea
temperatures.
Warmer waters damage corals’ symbiotic algae, which normally provide energy
for their hosts by photosynthesis. The El Niño climate fluctuation of
1997 and 1998 caused the most extensive coral bleaching yet recorded,
devastating reef systems in the Indian Ocean and Caribbean.
But now there is evidence suggesting that the symbiotic algae may harbour a
virus that makes the corals vulnerable to changing sea temperatures. If so, it
may explain why only some…
