ch hot spots occur and, hence, the consistency of the bleaching events themselves. Huppert et al. (1998, p. 1) suggests that:"Perhaps the most striking finding is the possible existence of a worldwide coral reef bleaching cycle, peaking every 3-4 yr [and] that this cycle is intimately tied with strong El Nio events, which heat large areas of the ocean."While Huppert and Stone maintain that the warming of ocean waters could just be the result of natures El Nio cycle, Winiarski (1998, p.4A) reported that global warming is to blame. In global warming, the burning of fossil fuels discharges extreme levels of carbon dioxide, trapping heat around the planet like a thick blanket. Winiarski (1998) reports that reefs will survive only through a dramatic decline in the consumption of fossil fuels. Warrick (1999, p.6) seems to stress that the recent influx in bleaching and subsequent mortality is a combination of El Nio and global warming. Warrick (1999) reported that in 1998 coral reefs around the world appear to have sustained the most expansive and brutal bleaching events in the modern record. He adds that the conditions in 1998 were aggravated by El Nio and that recent trends suggest that the threat to coral reefs will only increase with time. The article continued in stating that it is plausible that global warming could have affected such vast bleaching concurrently throughout the widespread reef regions of the world. "Thus the geographic extent, increasing frequency and regional severity of mass bleaching events are likely a consequence of a steady rising baseline of marine temperatures" (p.7).It is evident that there is not yet enough information on the topic of coral reef bleaching to arrive at any concrete conclusions about why it happens. Since it is a relatively new phenomenon it is entirely fair to call it a scientific mystery. It is known that temperature increase over a sustained period of time does play an active roll, b...
