Researchers Plant Heat-Resistant Corals in the Great Barrier Reef

Symbolic image: coral reef · Photo: CC BY-SA 4.0

Faced with recurring coral bleaching, marine researchers are increasingly turning to a new approach: they breed and plant corals that tolerate higher water temperatures. Such programmes are running at Australia's Great Barrier Reef, among other places. The idea is to help the reefs adapt to warmer water until climate protection takes effect. Critics caution that this cannot address the real cause – global warming. But for many ecosystems it is a race against time.