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This bleaching2 occurs because corals can only live in a narrow temperature range, healthy corals get their color from microscopic3 algae4 living in their tissues, these manufacture food for the corals by photosynthesis5, but when the temperature rises just 2 degrees above the normal summer maximum, the algal cells are expelled because they no longer benefit the coral. The bleaching effect is the white chalky skeleton showing through the coral's transparent6 tissues, but they are not dead, not yet, they can survive in this bleach1 state for several weeks, if the temperature drops, the corals aquire new algae from plankton7 floating by, but if the warm water persists, the coral dies. Coral bleaching hadn't been seen on the great barrier reef before the 1980s, due to global warming, bleaching is now more common, and cyclones8 are likely to be more frequent too, and there is something even more insidious9, temperature is rising because more and more carbon dioxide from human activity enters the atmosphere, this dissolves in sea water turning acidic which can stop coral growth, if they can't build their chalky skeletons, reefs will start to crumble10.
1 bleach | |
vt.使漂白;vi.变白;n.漂白剂 | |
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2 bleaching | |
漂白法,漂白 | |
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3 microscopic | |
adj.微小的,细微的,极小的,显微的 | |
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4 algae | |
n.水藻,海藻 | |
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5 photosynthesis | |
n.光合作用 | |
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6 transparent | |
adj.明显的,无疑的;透明的 | |
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7 plankton | |
n.浮游生物 | |
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8 cyclones | |
n.气旋( cyclone的名词复数 );旋风;飓风;暴风 | |
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9 insidious | |
adj.阴险的,隐匿的,暗中为害的,(疾病)不知不觉之间加剧 | |
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10 crumble | |
vi.碎裂,崩溃;vt.弄碎,摧毁 | |
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