VOLUME 10 NUMBER 2 (July to December 2017)

by Luis Wilfrido Atienza & Cecilia Conaco, PhD.

When it gets hot, our skin gets flushed, we sweat, or we get burns. At the same time, our cells are actively producing all kinds of molecules to help deal with any damage that may be caused by high temperature. In the oceans, corals experiencing warmer seawater temperatures may exhibit coral bleaching, or whitening, as symbiotic microalgae, which help provide the corals with nutrients, are ejected. This phenomenon may lead to the eventual death of corals and the coral reef communities that they support.