Coral reefs around the world are dying in what's known as a global bleaching event—caused by climate change and exacerbated by El Niño.
For only the third time on record, a global coral bleaching event is underway, according to NOAA.
It's an ecological disaster happening in real time, and is believed to be caused in large part by human activity.
Coral simply cannot survive the ever-increasing ocean temperatures caused by climate change.
When coral reefs die, entire ecosystems are thrown into chaos and are likely to suffer; around 25 percent of ocean life depends on coral's existence.
Bleaching occurs when coral expel their algae due to stress on their natural e
