Coral reefs and climate change: Microbes could be the key to coral death
Coral reefs could be dying out because of changes to the microbes that live in them just as much as from the direct rise in temperature caused by global warming.
Changes in sea temperature caused by climate change and global warming affect corals, but they also affect the types of bacteria and other microflora that live with them. When the water warms up, some disease-causing bacteria are more successful and can attack the corals. The corals themselves suffer from heat, which reduces their defences. Also, some of the friendly bacteria that normally live in the corals' guts become weakened, allowing other harmful bacteria to multiply and cause diseases or other problems.