Purpose of Activity

• Familiarize students with sea surface temperature (SST) and the use of satellites to remotely sense SST.

• Familiarize students with the effect of SST on coral health.

Parker, B.-A., T.R.L. Christensen, S.F. Heron, J.A. Morgan, and C.M. Eakin. 2009. Hands-on oceanography | A classroom activity using satellite sea surface temperatures to predict coral bleaching. Oceanography 22(2):252–257, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2009.58.

Worksheet > Download 3.08 MB pdf

Worksheet Answers > Download 718 KB pdf

Berkelmans, R. 2002. Time-integrated thermal bleaching thresholds of reefs and their variation on the Great Barrier Reef. Marine Ecological Progress Series 229:73–82.
1. Bruno, J.F., E.R. Selig, K.S. Casey, C.A. Page, B.L. Willis, C.D. Harvell, H. Sweatmand, and A.M. Melendy. 2007. Thermal stress and coral cover as drivers of coral disease outbreaks. Public Library of Science: Biology 5(6):e124.
2. Coral Disease Working Group of the Global Environmental Facility Coral Reef Targeted Research Program. 2007. Coral disease, environmental drivers, and the balance between coral and microbial associates. Oceanography 20(1):172–195. Available online at: http://www.tos.org/oceanography/issues/issue_archive/issue_pdfs/20_1/20.1_breaking_waves.pdf (accessed April 24, 2009).
3. Eakin, C.M., J.M. Lough, and S.F. Heron. 2009. Climate variability and change: Monitoring data and evidence for increased coral bleaching stress. Pp. 41–62 in Coral Bleaching: Patterns, Processes, Causes and Consequences. M.H. Van Oppen and J.M. Lough, eds, Ecological Studies 205, Springer, Berlin.
4. Glynn, P.W., and L. D’Croz. 1990. Experimental evidence for high temperature stress as the cause of El Niño-coincident coral mortality. Coral Reefs 8:181–191.
5. Glynn, P.W. 1996. Coral reef bleaching: Facts, hypotheses and implications. Global Change Biology 2:495–509.
6. Harvell, C.D., C.E. Mitchell, J.R. Ward, S. Altizer, A.P. Dobson, R.S. Ostfeld, and M.D. Samuel. 2002. Climate warming and disease risks for terrestrial and marine biota. Science 296:2,158–2,162.
7. Hoegh-Guldberg, O. 1999. Climate change, coral bleaching, and the future of the world’s reefs. Marine and Freshwater Research 50(8):839–866.
8. Hoegh-Guldberg, O., P.J. Mumby, A.J. Hooten, R.S. Steneck, P. Greenfield, E. Gomez, C.D. Harvell, P.F. Sale, A.J. Edwards, K. Caldeira, and others. 2007. Coral reefs under rapid climate change and ocean acidification. Science 318:1,737–1,742.
9. IPCC. 2007. Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. S. Solomon, D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Averyt, M. Tignor, and H.L. Miller Jr., eds, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, and New York, NY, USA.
10. Kleypas, J.A., and C.M. Eakin. 2007. Scientists’ perceptions of threats to coral reefs: Results of a survey of coral reef researchers. Bulletin of Marine Science 80(2):419–436.
11. Marshall, P., and H. Schuttenberg. 2006. A Reef Manager’s Guide to Coral Bleaching. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville, Australia, 163 pp.
12. McClanahan, T.R., E. Weil, J. Cortes, A.H. Baird, and M. Ateweberhan. 2009. Consequences of coral bleaching for sessile reef organisms. Pp. 121–134 in Coral Bleaching: Patterns, Processes, Causes and Consequences. M.H. Van Oppen and J.M. Lough, eds, Ecological Studies 205, Springer, Berlin.
13. Muscatine, L. 1990. The role of symbiotic algae in carbon and energy flux in reef corals. Coral Reefs 25:1–29.
14. Wilkinson, C., and D. Souter, eds. 2008. Status of Caribbean Coral Reefs after Bleaching and Hurricanes in 2005. Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, and Reef and Rainforest Research Centre, Townsville, Australia, 148 pp.
15. Wilkinson, C., ed. 2008. Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2008. Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network and Reef and Rainforest Research Centre, Townsville, Australia, 296 pp. http://www.gcrmn.org/publications.aspx.

This is an open access article made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format as long as users cite the materials appropriately, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate the changes that were made to the original content. Images, animations, videos, or other third-party material used in articles are included in the Creative Commons license unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If the material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission directly from the license holder to reproduce the material.