Coral bleaching and the Red Sea: what the 2023–2025 global event means

NOAA and the International Coral Reef Initiative confirmed the fourth global bleaching event on 15 April 2024 — the second in ten years. NOAA later reported that bleaching-level heat stress affected about 84% of the world's reef area, with mass bleaching documented in at least 83 countries and territories, and that the event likely ended in mid-2025.

Not necessarily. NOAA says bleaching does not necessarily mean corals will die; if the stress eases, corals can recover. Severe or long-lasting events can kill them.

Research on the northern Red Sea found an unusually high bleaching threshold — see our article on Red Sea coral research. Even so, NOAA confirmed bleaching in the Red Sea during this event.

Avoid touching or kicking corals, choose operators that use moorings, and support reef monitoring and conservation groups such as HEPCA.