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Rapid Recent Warming of Coral Reefs in the Florida Keys



Details

  • Journal Title:
    Scientific Reports
  • Personal Author:
    Manzello, Derek P.
  • NOAA Program & Office:
    OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research)
  • Description:
    Coral reef decline in the Florida Keys has been well-publicized, controversial, and polarizing owing to debate over the causative agent being climate change versus overfishing. The recurrence of mass bleaching in 2014, the sixth event since 1987, prompted a reanalysis of temperature data. The summer and winter of 2014 were the warmest on record. The oldest known in-situ temperature record of any coral reef is from Hens and Chickens Reef (H&C) in the Florida Keys, which showed significant warming from 1975-2014. The average number of days >= 31.5 and 32 degrees C per year increased 2670% and 2560%, respectively, from the mid-1990 s to present relative to the previous 20 years. In every year after 1992 and 1994, maximum daily average temperatures exceeded 30.5 and 31 degrees C, respectively. From 1975-1994, temperatures were <31 degrees C in 61% of years, and in 44% of the years prior to 1992 temperatures were <30.5 degrees C. The measured rate of warming predicts the start of annual bleaching between 2020 and 2034, sooner than expected from climate models and satellite-based sea temperatures. These data show that thermal stress is increasing and occurring on a nearannual basis on Florida Keys reefs due to ocean warming from climate change.
  • Source:
    Scientific Reports, 5, 16762.
  • DOI:
  • Document Type:
    Journal Article
  • Rights Information:
    CC BY
  • Compliance:
    Submitted
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha256:8ca389d1a8226a945f406979d9e2e974d1ce997971095cbc761498c129bfee43
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 1.90 MB ]
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