New coral research says that 75% of the world’s coral reefs may not be able to cope with climate change, thus putting them in grave danger. In fact, a mere 1 degree rise in sea temperature is expected to be fatal to the coral.

Previously, it was believed corals could adapt to warmer temperatures by forming new symbiotic relationships with algae. Now, a new study revealed only 23% of the more than 442 coral species is capable of this mechanism.

The adaptive mechanism was seen during the 1997-1998 El Nino. Corals along the Panama coast were able to switch from one algae (clade C) to another (clade D.) The algae kept the coral alive by supplying them with nutrients. Coral without this adaptation becomes bleached and dies.

The world’s coral reefs also face threat from coastal pollution and acidifying oceans. These could cause coral to lose the algae that keep it alive. According to experts, 95% of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef will be gone by 2050.

Researchers say it is possible this adaptive mechanism is more widespread since the study only covered a tiny sliver of the 93,000 known coral species.

Coral is a common name for several species of invertebrate animals. Coral reefs are the animals' stony skeletons, a calcium carbonate crystalline framework secreted by the epidermis of individual coral organisms. Coral reefs in the tropics provide limestone materials for building roads and other types of coral have been used as ornaments.

Coral reef also provides protection and shelter for many species of fish and mollusks, including many commercially important species that feed between 30 and 40 million people every year.