Gulf of Eilat, Israel. Photo source: Littlesavage
Excerpts;
Coral reefs, earth’s richest and most diverse ecosystem, are deteriorating rapidly. One of the most devastating causes for that deterioration is coral bleaching, which typically occurs when seawater temperatures exceed the local summer maximum by one-half to one and half degrees Celsius. At those higher temperatures, the coral’s symbiotic algae are lost, leading to the coral’s bleaching and eventually its death.
But, while the frequency of coral bleaching is globally increasing, no bleaching event has been observed in the Gulf of Eilat/Aqaba (Eilat sits at the northern end of the gulf), even when nominally bleaching conditions prevail…
