Quote:The bleaching of the Great Barrier reef has more to do with farm runoff than rising temperatures. Temperatures do affect this, and it has been warmer than usual because of El Nino, but the temperatures are not records.


 

According to my Google search, the water temperature in Hawaii during the bleaching there was 80F. I've snorkeled in much warmer waters with unbleached corals many times. Maybe the corals around Hawaii are of a species that is particularly sensitive to temperature. Or maybe warming was not the cause there either.


 

The measured warming is higher in the Arctic, and in the Northern Hemisphere. In the tropics it's negligible. We're talking about a global average of less than 1 degree, and Siberia accounts for most of that. How many of your friends die when the temperature goes from 79 to 80?


 

Even using NOAA's highly exaggerated warming you can see that the area of the Great Barrier reef is in the lowest warming color.


 

http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/detect/global-temps.shtml

 

Don't believe me. But don't believe people who profit from spreading alarm. Look at the data yourself.

 

I read a couple news articles from the winter of 2015 (November time frame) which was discussing the bleaching in Hawaii.  The fact is that while El Nino can be one factor, it has only been exaserbating the issue.

 

Now I'm no marine biologist, but I did watch the PBS NOVA episode on Coral Bleaching a few years back.  A slight increase in temperature causes bleaching.  The prolonged raised temperature is what eventually kills off the coral, as the bleaching is a sign that the photosynthesis isn't happening.

 

So while El Nino's can trigger an event, the fact that temperatures overall have been rising is creating a bigger problem.  

 

And the idea the farm run off is causing the bleaching, again, is just silly.  Unless you want to provide a source that states your claim that farm run off is the big factor of coral bleaching, I'm just not gonna believe that to be the issue here.

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