28 January 2010 Cold snap killed Florida coral [Keyword: bleaching ]
A cold snap earlier this month killed or bleached significant amounts of coral in the waters off South Florida and the Florida Keys, according to an analysis this week by Nature Conservancy scientists.

“About 50 to 70 percent of the entire coral reef is dead in the upper Keys,” said Meaghan Johnson, marine science coordinator with the Nature Conservancy.

The culprit was the 12 consecutive days of extremely cold weather from Jan. 2-14 in Florida, which included a near-record cold air temperature of 42 degrees in Key West on Jan. 11. Johnson said the water temperatures in some parts of the Keys during that time plummeted into the frigid upper 40s and lower 50s, far below typical lows of the upper 60s and lower 70s.

Courtesy of USA Today