Australia's Great Barrier Reef faces increasing rates of coral bleaching as ocean waters warm faster than the coral can tolerate, a study released Thursday found, according to dpa. Scientists examined how coral adjusts to warming oceans and found that if water warms and then cools, the coral can adjust and adapt to avoid bleaching. But the scientists said if coral has not had this "practice run" and ocean temperatures rise by half a degree and stay there, the coral is unable to adapt quickly enough and bleaching occurs. The study results were published in the journal Science.
