A record-breaking marine heat wave in 2023 left two ecologically vital coral species "functionally extinct" in Florida's Coral Reef, a study said Thursday, highlighting the growing dangers a warming climate poses for the world's oceans.
Elkhorn and staghorn corals, which take their names from the antler shapes they resemble and belong to the Acropora family, are fast-growing "reef builder" species that long dominated waters off Florida and in the Caribbean.
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