A moonshot for coral breeding
I've been wondering something. So corals evolved 535 million years ago. During this time the earth went through large fluctuations in temperature (ocean temperatures of 35 degrees, Antarctica being tropical), and CO2 concentrations over twice as high as we have now. But supposedly they can't handle the current conditions? That makes no sense to me.<p>Are the causes of coral bleaching actually understood? Wikipedia lists a dozen potential factors. It seems more likely to me that it's something other than CO2/temperature considering the species' history.<p>On the other hand it could well be that during the times when the temperature was changing rapidly, most of the corals died off, leaving behind only the most resistant ones.