Date: 2/10/2007
Coral disease outbreaks have struck the healthiest sections of Australiaâs Great Barrier Reef, where researchers have conclusively linked disease severity and ocean temperature. âWith the study, speculation about the impacts of global warming on the spread of infectious diseases among susceptible marine species has been brought to an endâ said Don Rice, director of the National Science Foundation. For six years, the international research team, led by University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, tracked infection called white syndrome in 48 reefs along more than 1,500 kilometres of Australiaâs coastline.