Scientist and Researchers have been stressing for years that global warming is causing the coral reef to die off. It has been shown to us in numerous forms that the coral reef is indeed taking damage, but new research is showing that this isn’t the first time coral reefs have suffered through harsh temperatures and bounced back. So the future just may be bright again for all corals out there.

The Yale Environment 360 reports: ”An increase in ocean temperatures that occurred 4,000 years ago triggered a collapse of coral reef systems in the eastern Pacific that lasted for about 2,500 years, according to a new study. In an analysis of 17-foot core samples taken from the frameworks of coral reefs off the Panama coast, scientists from the Florida Institute of Technology found that the reefs stopped growing during a period that coincided with the start of a period of dramatic swings in the El Nino-Southern Oscillation, including periods when ocean temperatures elevated significantly. They say this gap in growth also occurred in reef systems as far away as Japan and Australia.”