 The corals themselves are subject to black and white band diseases, damage from hurricanes, and bleaching and reduced calcification brought on by increased sea surface temperatures and ocean acidification associated with global warming.The reefs of Belize were subjected to the catastrophic global bleaching event of 1998.Persisting high sea surface temperatures that year, coupled with the devastation of Hurricane Mitch, resulted in a 50% loss of living corals in some locations along the barrier reef.