Coral bleaching products available through Google Earth

Coral reef managers and scientists around the world can now receive the latest data on thermal stress that can cause bleaching of coral reefs, in the flexible new format of Google Earth. It is an excellent visualization tool that helps to enliven the data of NOAA's Coral Reef Watch. Positive feedback from users has led to several improvements including placemarks for "virtual stations" where there is thermal stress: Users can set a location in Google Earth, like a push-pin on a wall map, where they will monitor stress on coral reefs. Perhaps the greatest benefit of these Coral Reef Watch products is that coastal managers will have advance warning of one to three weeks for bleaching events, allowing them to prepare for and respond to coral bleaching.

Learn more:

• Coral Reef Watch website
• Google Earth