Coral devastation

Lush coral reefs support 25% of all species of marine fish in the ocean, yet they are extremely sensitive to changes in temperature of the surrounding water. In April 1998 an El Nino event is thought to have caused mass devastation to the reefs surrounding the Maldive Islands. With just one degree rise in temperature, the coral reefs turned white, exposing their inner skeletons once the outer polyps had died. It may take decades before these coral reefs are recolonised.