The 2019 heat wave that struck Mo'orea—a volcanic island in French Polynesia—swept through its coral reefs like an invisible wildfire. Colorful, lively corals bleached into ghostly, chalk-white skeletons as soaring ocean temperatures triggered a mass mortality event (MME) that wiped out up to 80...

Source: [Phys.org](https://phys.org/news/2026-08-genomic-evidence-coral-reefs-rewriting.html)

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