Climate Change Hits Caribbean Islands

Scientists have issued their strongest warning so far this year that unusually warm Caribbean Sea temperatures threaten coral reefs that suffered widespread damage last year in record-setting heat. Waters have reached 85.5 degrees around the U.S. Virgin Islands and 85.1 degrees around Puerto Rico - temperatures at which coral can be damaged if waters do not cool after a few weeks - said Al Strong, a scientist with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coral Reef Watch, in a telephone interview Monday. The warning issued Saturday by NOAA urges scuba-dive operators and underwater researchers in the U.S. Caribbean territories to look for coral damage and use caution around the fragile reefs, which are easily damaged by physical contact. Coral, which provide a sheltered habitat for fish, lobsters and other animals, die from prolonged bleaching, when the water temperature gets so high that it kills the algae that populate and build the reefs. The new warning follows two watches issued since July. Strong said the water was not expected to become as warm as last year, when sea temperatures in the territories reached their highest levels this decade and as much as 40 percent of the coral died around the U.S. Virgin Islands.