[Coral-List] Bleaching Potential Beginning: Start of thermal stress in greater Caribbean, western Pacific
Mark Eakin
Mark.Eakin at noaa.gov
Mon Aug 11 11:41:42 EDT 2008
It's that time of the year again and northern hemisphere waters are
starting to warm for this year's bleaching season.
Greater Caribbean:
Some warming has begun in this region, but little thermal stress
accumulation has been recorded. Degree Heating Week (DHW) values are
low around the Flower Garden Banks, Florida Bay, and the Bahamas. At
this time we only expect these to rise around Florida Bay at this
time. Continued warm weather and a lack of tropical storm activity
suggests mild stress may continue across the region. Our new seasonal
bleaching outlook suggests that there may be some bleaching in this
region this year, but mass bleaching is not expected.
Western Pacific/East Asia:
Accumulation of thermal stress has begun in earnest around Korea and
southern Japan. DHW values have exceeded 4 in some areas offshore
from Kyushu and accumulation is beginning along the Ryukyus. Some
accumulation of thermal stress has begun in the South China Sea as
well. If these spread they may impact reefs in Hainan, the Dongsha /
Paracel Islands and northwestern Philippines. This is consistent with
our new seasonal coral bleaching outlook that indicates some potential
for widespread bleaching in this region in the next few months. based
on the new outlook product, conditions are not expected to reach the
severe levels seen along East Asia last year.
Micronesia:
Some warming has begun in this region, but no thermal stress
accumulation has been recorded. Our new seasonal bleaching outlook
suggests that there may be some bleaching in this region this year,
but mass bleaching is not expected. This is similar to the stress
levels expected in the Caribbean this year.
Our new seasonal bleaching outlooks can be found at:
http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/bleachingoutlook/index.html
Current HotSpot and Degree Heating Week charts and data formatted for
HDF and Google Earth can be found at:
http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/index.html
Time series graphics for index sites can be found at:
http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/current/sst_series_24reefs.html
and
http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/current/experimental_products.html
You can sign up for automated bleaching alerts at:
http://coralreefwatch-satops.noaa.gov/SBA.html
Please report bleaching events (or non-events) at:
http://www.reefbase.org/contribute/bleachingreport.aspx
Cheers,
Mark
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C. Mark Eakin, Ph.D.
Coordinator, NOAA Coral Reef Watch
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Center for Satellite Applications and Research
Satellite Oceanography & Climate Division
e-mail: mark.eakin at noaa.gov
url: coralreefwatch.noaa.gov
E/RA31, SSMC1, Room 5308
1335 East West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226
301-713-2857 x109 Fax: 301-713-3136
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