Coral reefs are first environmental system to pass climate "tipping point"
Crucial for marine life and the global economy, coral reefs are the planet's first major environmental system to cross a climate "tipping point" as the world warms.
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Crucial for marine life and the global economy, coral reefs are the planet's first major environmental system to cross a climate "tipping point" as the world warms.
The mass bleaching event comes as the world saw record-high sea surface temperatures and the hottest February ever recorded.
The 6.4 million-acre reef is bigger than the state of Vermont, NOAA says.
The study said collapse of key ice sheets, loss of tropical coral reefs and thawing of permafrost could be triggered at 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming.
