Egypt’s Climate-Resilient ‘Super Corals’ Are Starting to Feel the Heat

Key points

• Egypt's Red Sea corals, long considered unusually heat-resistant, suffered bleaching during heat waves in 2023 and 2024. A survey led by marine biologist Mahmoud Hanafy found that less than a tenth of colonies in northern areas were affected, while further south bleaching affected half.
• Scientists debate whether evolutionary history or water circulation explains the reefs' resilience, and whether that protection will hold. Preliminary estimates show recovery rates of 75 to 88 percent a year after the event.
• Hanafy says reducing carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases is the key long-term solution.