Meaning & use
coral bleaching
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountablebiology
The loss of color in coral when stress, especially unusually warm water, makes it expel the algae that live inside it and feed it.
Grammar: Usually uncountable: coral bleaching is increasing, not a coral bleaching.
Patterns
- coral bleaching in somewhere
- coral bleaching caused by something
Rising sea temperatures have triggered coral bleaching across the reef.
Scientists warn that repeated coral bleaching leaves little time for recovery.
Coral bleaching turns vivid reefs a ghostly white.
Common combinations
- mass coral bleaching
- Mass coral bleaching hit the region two summers in a row.
- cause coral bleaching
- Heat waves in the ocean cause coral bleaching.
- coral bleaching event
- The last coral bleaching event damaged half the reef.
- severe coral bleaching
- Divers reported severe coral bleaching near the island.
- prevent coral bleaching
- Cutting emissions may help prevent coral bleaching.
Synonyms and how they differ
- reef decline
- Reef decline is a broader phrase covering any damage to reefs, while coral bleaching names one specific process.
- coral die-off
- A die-off means the coral has actually died, but bleached coral can still be alive and recover.
Opposites
Word family
- bleach verb
- to remove color from something
- bleached adjective
- having lost color
- coral reef noun
- a ridge of coral in shallow sea
Commonly confused: coral bleaching or ocean acidification?
coral bleaching vs ocean acidification
Acidification is the sea becoming more acidic from absorbed carbon dioxide, a different threat to coral than heat-driven bleaching.
Practice
What most directly causes coral bleaching?
Choose one answer.
Stress such as heat makes coral expel its algae, which removes its color. The other options are not the standard cause.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “coral bleaching”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.