GEOGRAPHY IN THE NEWS:

The waters surrounding Indonesia are home to 20% of the world's coral reefs, with 75% of the world's coral species living in the so-called "coral triangle" of Southeast Asia and Oceania, from Indonesia to the Philippines to the Solomon Islands. Researchers studying these corals are finding they may be more resilient to temperature changes than has been feared. "In 2019, [scientists found] that corals that were predicted to exceed the bleaching threshold, defined by previous climate models, were actually showing a greater ability to adapt to thermal stresses. To investigate, [Kenya-based coral scientist Tim] McClanahan launched a study with researchers from 19 tropical research institutions to assess the sensitivities of 226 reefs in 12 countries across 2016, one of the Earth’s warmest years on record. Field observation data of bleaching events were collected and compared with satellite data of coral exposure to high sea temperatures. The team found that past climate warming models overestimated coral destruction in the Coral Triangle – the region that spans Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands, where three quarters of the world’s coral species live. In particular, reefs around the Australian, Indonesian and Fiji-Caroline regions were better able to adapt to thermal stress than was previously thought." geographical.co.uk/nature/oceans/item/3949-corals-susceptibility-to-bleaching-varies-with-geography-raising-conservation-hope