The Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), situated in Barbados, stated on Monday that with El Nio conditions projected this year, the bleaching outlook for the Caribbean is not promising at this moment, and that extensive bleaching of reefs is likely this season.
El Nio, the natural climate phenomena of warm temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, has officially begun, and it is expected to alter weather patterns globally in tandem with climate change.
According to the CIMH’s most recent Caribbean Coral Reef Watch, there are noticeably warmer conditions throughout the Caribbean compared to this time in 2022, and the whole region is under coral bleaching watch or warning.
It predicts that “there is a high probability Coral Bleaching Heat Stress will reach and exceed Alert Levels One and Two for most of the Caribbean” from June through September.
It stated that the near real-time satellite Bleaching Alert Area and the modelled Four Month Outlook for the Caribbean both indicate that significant Alert Level One and Two conditions could be expected throughout the region from mid-August to late September, potentially lasting several weeks into October.
