BackgroundThe rising temperature of the world's oceans has become a major threat to coral reefs globally as the severity and frequency of mass coral bleaching and mortality events increase. In 2005, high ocean temperatures in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean resulted in the most severe bleaching event ever recorded in the basin.Methodology/Principal FindingsSatellite-based tools provided warnings for coral reef managers and scientists, guiding both the timing and location of researchers' field observations as anomalously warm conditions developed and spread across the greater Caribbean region from June to October 2005. Field surveys of bleaching and mortality exceeded prior efforts in detail and extent, and provided a new standard for documenting the effects of bleaching and for testing nowcast and forecast products. Collaborators from 22 countries undertook the most comprehensive documentation of basin-scale bleaching to date and found that over 80% of corals bleached and over 40% died at many sites. The most severe bleaching coincided with waters nearest a western Atlantic warm pool that was centered off the northern end of the Lesser Antilles.Conclusions/SignificanceThermal stress during the 2005 event exceeded any observed from the Caribbean in the prior 20 years, and regionally-averaged temperatures were the warmest in over 150 years. Comparison of satellite data against field surveys demonstrated a significant predictive relationship between accumulated heat stress (measured using NOAA Coral Reef Watch's Degree Heating Weeks) and bleaching intensity. This severe, widespread bleaching and mortality will undoubtedly have long-term consequences for reef ecosystems and suggests a troubled future for tropical marine ecosystems under a warming climate.

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Anecdotal evidence collected since 2004 suggests that infections caused by ciliates in the genus Halofolliculina may be related to coral mortality in more than 25 scleractinian species in the Caribbean. However, the relationship between the presence of ciliates and coral mortality has not yet been firmly established. Field and laboratory manipulations were used to test if ciliate infections harm corals, if ciliates are able to infect healthy colonies, and if coral susceptibility to ciliate infection depends on temperature, depth, distance to an infected colony, and the presence of injuries. Ciliate infections were always characterized by a visually detectable front of ciliates located on recently exposed coral skeletons. These infections altered the normal structure of the colony by causing tissue mortality (0.8 ± 0.95 cm month -1 , mean ± iSZ>) and by delaying or preventing recovery from injuries. Under laboratory conditions, ciliates transmitted directly and horizontally from infected to healthy hosts, and coral susceptibility to ciliate infections increased with the presence of injuries. After invasion, the ciliate population grew, rapidly and after 8 d, produced tissue mortality on 32% of newly infected hosts. Thus, our results support the existence of a new Caribbean coral syndrome that is associated with tissue mortality, is infectious, and transmits directly and horizontally. Even though the role of ciliates in the development of lesions on coral tissues remains unclear, their presence is by far the

<span>Durante las últimas décadas las anomalías térmicas han sido más frecuentes y severas en el Caribe, quedando pocos arrecifes exentos de eventos masivos de blanqueamiento (EMB). En el Parque Nacional Los Roques, Venezuela, un archipiélago poco afectado previamente por EMB, la temperatura del agua a 5m de profundidad alcanzó 30,85°C en septiembre 2010, y fue &gt;29,0°C entre mediados de agosto y la primera semana de noviembre en cuatro arrecifes. El 72% de 563 colonias de escleractinios estaban blanqueadas o pálidas para octubre de 2010, mientras que para febrero 2011, el 46% de las colonias aún estaban afectadas. Para febrero 2011, la cobertura béntica coralina promedio disminuyó de 45 a 31%. Además, los arrecifes mostraron una alta prevalencia (de hasta 16%) de enfermedad de banda negra en Octubre 2010, y de plaga blanca (11%) en Febrero 2011. Como consecuencia, es probable que la mortalidad coralina resulte mayor a la reportada acá. Sin embargo, Los Roques es poco afectado por perturbaciones antropogénicas y cuenta con un alto reclutamiento de corales, lo cual podría contribuir a su recuperación.</span>

The study examined Colombian people's positions on forgiving former actors in the armed civil conflict and on reintegrating them into society. A convenience sample of 550 adults living in Bogota was presented with 12 realistic stories depicting a former perpetrator of violence (a member of the guerillas, the paramilitary, or the military) who begged a victim's family for forgiveness. The vignettes were created by combining the levels of 4 factors-Identity ϫ Apologies (has apologized and offered compensation or not) ϫ Type of Crime (murder or destruction of property) ϫ Level of Responsibility (mere agent or organizer)-in a Latin square design. Three different rating scales were used: a willingness to forgive scale, an acceptance in the neighborhood scale, and an acceptance as a coworker scale. Through cluster analysis, 4 personal positions regarding forgiveness were found: a never forgive under any circumstances position (29%), a hesitant position (23%), an always forgive position (18%), and a depends on circumstances position (13%). Few participants adopted positions showing that at least minimal deliberation (weighing the pros and the cons) had taken place before responding. In addition, 17% of the sample was totally undetermined. Ninety-two percent of the participants who were hostile to forgiveness or hesitant were unwilling to have former perpetrators live in their neighborhoods, and 94% were unwilling to have them as coworkers. The corresponding figures were 62% and 66%, respectively, for participants holding an always forgive position. The gut reaction to former perpetrators found regarding the possibility of forgiving extended to the issue of reintegration. Overall, and despite the fact that, from a practical viewpoint, reintegrating people into society does not imply full forgiveness, Colombian people's views on reintegration are not more favorable than are their views on forgiveness.Editor's Note. Continue the conversation by submitting your comments and questions about this article/book review to PeacePsychology.org/ peaceconflict. (The Editor of PeacePsychology.org reserves the right to exclude material that fails to contribute to constructive discussion.