This is Science Friday, I'm Iroflado.

It's climate week here in New York.

So we thought it would be a pretty good time

to focus on our climate crisis

and a good place to begin the water surrounding South Florida.

Because the coral reefs there are suffering terribly

from the effects of climate change.

You know, coral reefs are important for a couple of reasons.

They protect coastlines from storms

and they're an important part of the oceanic food chain.

We talked about this on the show back in July

about how South Florida's waters reached abnormally high temperatures

some over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit this summer.

And it turns out, as you might have guessed,

that these high temperatures are not good

for the health of the coral.

My next guest, Dove Beneath,

the waves on one of Florida's reefs

and it's here to tell us what he saw.

Benji Jones, environmental reporter for a Vox based in New York.

Welcome to Science Friday.

Thanks so much for having me, Ira.

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