Just a 1°C rise in temperature can lead to empty nets

Hardly any meat: Attempts to use a prawn net by this fisherman only resulted in about 1kg of juvenile mantis prawns. — ZHAFARAN NASIB/The Star

GEORGE TOWN: Just five days of continuous hot weather is enough for corals to start bleaching and with their eventual death comes a chain reaction that eventually leads to fishermen returning with near-empty nets, says a marine biologist.

And the temperature rise can be as little as 1°C, said Universiti Sains Malaysia Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies director Prof Datuk Dr Aileen Tan.