Coral Bleaching

By Joseph Castro, LiveScience Staff Writer: The world's oceans have been warming for more than 100 years, twice as long as previously believed, new...

One of us has been studying the effect of prolonged temperature swings on coral reef communities in the Caribbean where the corals have been reduced to rubble at many sites.

Even when local communities make every effort to conserve their reefs, global climate change means more bleaching, more dead reefs, and more ocean acidification.

Scientists point to coral as a canary in the coalmine for climate change -- and their reaction to increased water temperatures isn't the only indication that carbon emissions are reaching dangerous levels.

In honor of the underwater meeting that the Maldives' Cabinet held on Saturday to raise awareness about the threat of climate change, HuffPost Green t...