http://www.flkeysnews.com/news/local/environment/article157317509.html
Coral reefs worldwide “may finally catch a break from high ocean temperatures,” says a Monday report from the federal Coral Reef Conservation Program. (see
http://coralreef.noaa.gov/ )
If conditions follow estimates prepared by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists, a three-year run of warming ocean water that imperiled coral reefs worldwide could be winding down.
“The latest NOAA forecast shows that widespread coral bleaching is no longer occurring in all three ocean basins: Atlantic, Pacific and Indian,” says the statement.
That indicates “the likely end to the global coral-bleaching event,” it says. “Scientists will closely monitor sea surface temperatures and bleaching over the next six months to confirm the event’s end.”
The Florida Keys have the only living coral reef in the continental United States and the third largest in the world. Keys corals have been been affected during the three years of warm ocean temperatures.
Since 2015, “all tropical coral reefs around the world have seen above-normal temperatures, and more than 70 percent experienced prolonged high temperatures that can cause bleaching,” NOAA reports. “U.S. coral reefs were hit hardest, with two years of severe bleaching in Florida and Hawaii.”
“This global coral-bleaching event has been the most widespread, longest and perhaps the most damaging on record,” C. Mark Eakin, NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch coordinator, says in the statement.
Coral bleaching can occur when water temperatures stay near 87 degrees Fahrenheit for a period of several weeks. When the coral colonies become stressed, they expel the algae (zooxanthellae) that give corals their distinctive color, leaving them bone white.
Bleached corals can recover as water cools but the severe damage often proves fatal to the reef-building corals.
From The Florida Reef Resilience Program (FRRP) ( a collaborative effort among managers, scientists, conservation organizations and reef users to develop resilience –based management strategies for coping with ocean warming and other stresses on Florida's coral reefs. )
http://frrp.org/
Coral reefs are one of the Earth’s most productive and biologically diverse natural systems. They provide habitat for more than 1 million species of plants and animals – about 25 percent of all marine life combined – and nearly one-third of all fish. It is estimated that 500 million people rely on coral reefs for food and income. Reefs also supply physical protection from storm damage and coastal erosion that no amount of modern engineering can provide. Life as we know it would not be the same without coral reefs.
Florida boasts one of the world’s most significant coral reef ecosystems. This scattered chain of individual reefs stretches from the remote Dry Tortugas west of Key West offshore from Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties to its northern terminus in Martin County. Some 3,000 years old, today’s living reefs are as much a part of South Florida’s cultural landscape as they are a foundation of our biological and ecological seascape.
The Summer 2016 Report on the state of Florida's reefs at
http://frrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2016-Summer-DRM-Quick-Look-Report.pdf 
